Space Race and Cold War: Causes and Effects on The Contestants

 The Space Race began in 1957 when the US and the USSR were stuck in the Cold War. The USSR launched the world’s 1st satellite (Sputnik) before the US. The US realized that they were behind the Soviet Union and embarked on a program with the objective of claiming superiority over space and hence started the Space Race. The US managed to successfully launch “Explorer 1” in 1958 and in 1969 successfully completed the first manned mission to the moon, winning the Space Race alongside great advancements in rocket technology for exploration of space from both the US and the USSR such as finding the safest ways for humans to travel interplanet. So, in the years of researching, scientists quickly discovered major problems that affect the rate of successfully going interplanet.

Gravity is a drag. It pulls you back to Earth as soon as you jump! That’s why Rocket Scientist needs rockets to be able to shoot up and out at a speed exceeding 25000 mph if the rocket is to be broken free from the Earth’s surface. Solving this problem costs around $2,000,000 just to launch “Mars Curiosity Rover”, and that was already 1/10 of the mission’s costly budget including specific foods and drinks for sustaining life in the rocket. Scientists found out that composite materials such as fibered sheets and exotic-metal alloys can reduce the weight and also discovered better and more powerful fuel mixtures to get astronauts in space quicker.

Gravity is one of the major problems but what about landing? Throughout years of research, Rocket Scientists also developed a way of landing. Firstly, the astronaut needs friction to slow their approach then do a lap around the planet and fly through as much of the atmosphere’s top layer as possible. Secondly, the astronauts have to hit the aero-brakes and as they approach the surface. After that, they deploy their hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator. The Kevlar cone will create extra atmospheric drag when landing. They have to turn the rocket around to point the rocket engines in the direction they are flying to prevent crashing at a speed exceeding 200000mph.

Lettuce was a hero last August when astronauts planted them in space with zero gravity. The problem is that in zero gravity water floats around in bubbles instead of trickling through the soil. The solution that the engineers devised was to use ceramic tubes to get the necessary water to the plants’ roots. Now, scientists are working on a genetically modified plum tree that’s just 0.6m tall and also ways to plant potatoes and peanuts.

The Space Race had causes and effects on the contestants. It firstly showed the world which country had the best science, technology, and economic system. After WWII, both the US & The USSR realised the importance of rocket research.