The space race between the US and Russia began with a handshake in space, and just 18 years later it has offended the handshake in space. [Sources: 3]Originally Posted by Challenger007
One could argue that a new space race has begun, with private companies competing with other government organizations. Private companies have entered the exploration sector, pushing the sector forward, as would be the case if the government were left alone. At the time, she was driven by a desire to show dominance by being the first to achieve certain goals. [Sources: 3]
In 1958, the US launched its own satellite Explorer I, which was developed by the US Army. That same year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a public order establishing NASA, a federal agency for space exploration. He also created a safety-oriented space program, Space Launch System (SLS), which was to operate simultaneously with NASA's program. [Sources: 0]
Thus, the ability to operate independently provided additional security for military operations. The first, led by the US Air Force, was dedicated to harnessing the military potential of space. While many nations took steps forward, there were political undertones that drove the Cold War of the last century. [Sources: 0, 2]
The space agencies have international robotic satellites that explore our cosmic neighborhood to learn more about the universe we live in. NASA's Curiosity rover is exploring the surface of Mars and providing new images of the Red Planet, while ESA's Planck mission recently revealed new data from its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission, which has seen the first ever image of Jupiter's moon Europa. [Sources: 2]
The European Space Agency, for example, has provided the Orion capsule, which will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) and put humans into low Earth orbit. The Chinese space agency is working closely with the US space shuttle SLS and its Orion spacecraft. The first unmanned test flight is scheduled for 2018, but NASA is now investigating how soon it could conduct the first test flights of the S LS and Orion with a crew aboard. Former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has spoken publicly about the need for a manned space flight to Mars in the near future, as well as the potential for human exploration of other planets. [Sources: 6]
The rules governing international arms trade, governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). [Sources: 6]
With Sputnik and the moon landing, the space race represented an electrifying aspect of the Cold War, in which the United States and the Soviet Union fought for supremacy over the moon and stars. On July 4, 1969, President Nixon welcomed the three astronauts to the Kennedy Space Center in Washington. D.C. With Neil Armstrong's foot on the moon and his famous remarks, he reached his historic peak. [Sources: 8]
President Nixon understood that the pursuit of scientific innovation and exploration tended to eclipse the larger geopolitical conflict. Soviet challenges that successive U.S. governments invested in education and scientific research to meet them. [Sources: 1, 8]
These investments laid the groundwork for future innovation and economic competitiveness, and propelled the United States to victory in the so-called space race. The Soviet Union took over the world, but the U.S. private sector has increased investment in space, experts say. Astronauts have been launched by companies that build rockets, and astronauts have been launched into space with rockets from companies such as SpaceX, Orbital ATK and Orbital Sciences Corp. [Sources: 1]
The space race between the US and the Soviet Union began during the Eisenhower administration. As NASA grew in strength, increasing its budget to $150 million in 1959, the unique international situation evolved into a new form of the Cold War, which evolved into the Cold War. The attempt failed after the Soviets reached the moon with Lunik-2 on September 13, 1959, and photographed a hidden side of LunIK-3 on October 1959. [Sources: 7]
After World War II, the US and the Soviet Union competed to see who had the best technology in space. The narrow security barriers that the Soviets maintained gave them a new form of political initiative. These included the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Earth, the first satellite to orbit the Earth and the first person to step on the moon. [Sources: 4, 7]
The space race was seen as vital by both nations because it showed the world that both countries had superior scientific, economic, and political systems. [Sources: 4]
The weight of the design meant it could travel beyond Earth's immediate vicinity and potentially take humans to the moon and Mars. [Sources: 4, 5]
Space travel is really becoming cheaper and more accessible, and private individuals will travel regularly to space to marvel at the blue, watery home world in the inflatable habitats Bigelow Aerospace plans to build, or observe from the space station itself. By moving from its Commercial Crew Program to orbiting test vehicles and partnering with private companies to reach the lunar surface, NASA hopes to transform the economy of space travel through more competition and lower costs. China has already launched its first orbital test vehicle, the Shenzhou-6, which has been burning up in orbit and plans a second test flight with four people on board in 2018. [Sources: 5]
Sources:
[0]: https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/space-race
[1]: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/spa...ompetitiveness
[2]: https://anglejournal.com/article/201...d-competition/
[3]: https://theconversation.com/private-...o-expect-80697
[4]: https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explo...-race-timeline
[5]: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/s...e-spaceflight/
[6]: https://slate.com/technology/2017/03...aboration.html
[7]: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/artic...petition-space
[8]: https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2016...l-competition/
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