Soviet+Space+Program

THE SOVIET SPACE PROGRAM ==== Overview The Cold War was the name given to what was really a conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union following World War II. Rather than engage in a potentially devastating war, both The U.S. and the Soviet Union used more subtle, yet still equally dangerous ways to fight this war. The democratic United States was backed by its fellow allies of NATO, while the communist Soviet Union had its satellite nations and allies. The United States, while being one of the two superpowers in the world, started post-war recovery efforts by initiating the Marshall plan, which aided Western European countries that were left ravaged after World War II. The United States also entered the Korean War to help stop the communist North Korea from taking over the democratic South Korea. Eventually, the United States stopped both Stalin from creating a communistic world, and removed communism from countries that wished to be democratic. Stemming from the United States using German scientists who developed missile's, or rockets, during World War II, the race to the moon, or otherwise known as //The Space Race,// sparked an immense desire from both countries to find a way to get into space! ====

 Impact of the Soviet Space Program on the Cold War ====As the tensions between the United States and Soviet Union rose as World War II ended, the race to leave the earths atmosphere quickly became a heated race between the two superpowers in the world. With both nations having incredibly smart scientist coming up with the most sophisticated equipment to withstand the vacuum of space, the race into space boomed.==== media type="youtube" key="TbAXkWPasYw" width="382" height="315"
 * ====On October 4th, 1957, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soviet satellite named //Sputnik-1// was launched in the sky and out of the atmosphere.====
 * ====This satellite, which was no larger than an average beach ball and weighed about 180 pounds, became the //first artificial satellite to be put into Earth orbit//, and sparked the space race between the United States and Soviet Union.====

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 * ====On November 3rd, 1957, nearly a month after the Soviets succeeded in being the first country in space, //Sputnik-2// was launched, becoming the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit. Only this time, a living animal was onboard, a dog named //Laika//. She made it through launch and into space, but eventually died from overheating and stress inside the spacecraft.====
 * ====On August 19th, 1960, another spacecraft was launched into space carrying not only one animal, but two dogs named //Belka// and //Strelka//. These two adorable dogs' voyage in space lasted one day, and they both returned to earth safely.====


 * ====On April 12th, 1961, from the Baikonur Cosmodome in Kazakhstan, //Vostok-1// is launched, carrying aboard //Yuri Gagarin//, the first man to journey into outer space. [[image:ahscoldwarb/yuri-gagarin1.jpg width="267" height="359"]][[image:ahscoldwarb/vostok.jpg width="427" height="254"]]====
 * ====On June 16th, 1963, //Valentina Treshkova// became the first woman to travel into outer space.====




 * ====On March 8th, 1965, //Alexey Leonov// became the first human to leave a space shuttle and enter the vacuum of space to conduct a space walk.[[image:ahscoldwarb/Alexei-Leonov.jpg width="371" height="321"]]====


 * ====On Febuary 3rd, 1966, //Luna-9//, which was an unmanned spacecraft, became the first spacecraft ever to fully land on the moon, and also send back picture of the surface of the moon to Earth.====

[[image:ahscoldwarb/luna-9_color.jpg width="403" height="359"]]

 * ====On November 17th, 1970, //Lunokhod-1// became the first remote controlled rover robot to land on the moon[[image:lunokhod-1.jpg]].====


 * ====On June 8th, 1975, //Venera-9// was launched on a massive unmanned voyage to Venus. The spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and a lander, and became not only the first spacecraft to orbit Venus, but also the first spacecraft to return images from the surface of another planet. This mission was huge for outer space exploration.====

[[image:ahscoldwarb/venera9.jpg]][[image:Venera_9venus.jpg width="400" height="300"]]

 * ====On July 17th, 1975, Soviet Union cosmonaut //Alexey Leonov (first man to conduct a space walk)// and American astronaut //Thomas Stafford// shake hands as they both successfully docked there spacecrafts to one another.====


 * ====On July 25th, 1984, //Svetlana Savitskaya// became the first woman ever to leave a space shuttle and enter the vacuum of space to conduct a space walk[[image:S6300004-Cosmonaut_Savitskaya_during_1st_female_space_walk-SPL.jpg width="301" height="470"]].====


 * ====//Mir// was a space station that was operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001. It was first managed by the Soviet Union, then Russia, and finally was de-orbited and allowed to sink into the Pacific Ocean (2001).====

[[image:ahscoldwarb/mir.jpg width="400" height="398"]]

 * ====Begining in 1987 and ending in 1988, //Vladimir Titov// and //Musa Manarov// became the first humans to spend more than a whole YEAR in space! There massive mission lasted 365 days, 22 hours, and 39 minutes.====

====With all of these outstanding and quite staggering accomplishments, the Soviet Union proved to the world that they were serious about there time in space and also proved there amazing ability of equipment and engineering to make those accomplishments happen. These accomplishments stunned the world by showing the dawn of exploration, for ever impacting the quest for space. Each one of these accomplishments helped further not only research, but the pure desire for each country (United States and Soviet Union) to push and exceed each others success. A quality example of this would be the United States, on July 20th, 1969, became the first country to put a man on the moon. Many other accomplishments have been made by the United States, and the Soviet Union, both stemming from a desire to be in space.====

Significance ====As each country, as well as the world, became more and more caught up in the space race, and the fight to be the leading country in space flight grew larger and larger. With tensions running high after World War II, the bumpy United States-Soviet Union relationship came down to one thing: the race to space. The Soviet Union took a highly classified military-industrial approach to there space program, using there knowledge of missiles from WWII to create a way to launch man out of Earths atmosphere, and into space. On the other end of the spectrum, the United States decided the best thing would be to make NASA a purely civilian enterprise, leaving the military end of space effort in the Pentagon and intelligence community. This meant it was up to the people to decided if we would be competing in the race to space, and after seeing major accomplishments made by the Soviet Union, NASA was in the full swing of things. Also, the Soviet Union, being backed up by there accomplishment of being the first country in space, believed they were much farther ahead of the United States in terms of rocket technology and space launch capabilities. One thing they forgot about, though, was there vulnerability in nuclear weapons, linking the race to space with both nuclear disarmament and other political issues. In the end, though, the advancements made by the Soviet Union in rocket technology and space flight, helped not only them in achieving there goal to get into space, but also many countries to follow.====

//"Let both sides seek to invoke in the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars."-// Quote made by President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address.
Nikita Khrushchev ====With his country now being not only a superpower, but now the first country to enter space, Nikita Khrushchev watched as he built up an empire beneath him. First starting with the de-stalinization of the Soviet Union, then the pioneer of space travel, Khrushchev and his Soviet Union soared in becoming undoubtedly one of the two superpowers in the world. Even though President Kennedy wanted to be peaceful with the Soviet Union and even said in his inaugural address to the nation //"together let us explore the stars"//, Khrushchev was not moved by it, and even though wanting to remain so-called "friends" with the United States, was still persuaded by the eternal supremacy of Soviet rocketry and overall dominance in the space program.====

Works Cited >
 * Vick, Erika. United States. Nasa. //United States-Soviet Union Space Cooperation During the Cold War//. 2008. Web. .

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 * Unknown, . "Soviet and Russian Space Programs." //englishrussia.com//. WordPress, 2011. Web. 29 April 2012. />.

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 * Unknown, . "Nikita Khrushchev." //Spartacus Educational//. Spartacus Educational Publishers Ltd, n.d. Web. 29 April 2012. .


 * ==== Villanueva, John. "Soviet Space Progam." 1. (2010): 1. Web. 2 May. 2012.  ====


 * Unknown. "Soviet Space Progam." 1. TutorGig, 2011. Web. 2 May 2012. .

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 * ====Von Braun, Wernher, and Frederick Ordway III. //History of Rocketry and Space Travel//. 1st. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1966. 60- 64. Print. ====

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 * Dickson, Paul. //Sputnik: The Shock of the Century//. 1st. New York: Walker and Company, 2001. 9-28. Print.