Pros Of The Space Race

The Space Race can be defined as the international competition of aerospace exploration. The two major competitors being, the United States and Russia. The Space Race took place during a very heated era for both countries. The tensions were particularly high between these two rivals due to the Cold War. Both nations were determined to win the race no matter the costs or the numerous failures; the winner would gain a huge psychological victory. Although there were repercussions to the Space Race, the strong motivations lead to greater beneficial outcomes.
The Space Age officially began when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957 (“Time Line”). This was an astonishing defeat to the United States. America was dumbfounded when Russia announced their first outer space achievement. A country that, until this point, had always been behind the U.S. in technological advancements, was now leading the
NASA developed technologies such as: weather satellites, immediate electronic response through satellites, agriculture resources and computer technologies (Dunbar). NASA also provided 34,000 employees and 375,000 industrial and universal contractors ("The Space Race"). NASA invented a seven-step guide to monitor and test food production to make certain that the astronauts would not get food poisoning while in flight (Dunbar). Soon after, the FDA adopted the seven step guide and cases of salmonella dropped rapidly (Dunbar). NASA inspired innovations and philosophies that may have never been established if not for the influence of the Space Age. On July 20, 1969, America achieved its long sought victory of landing a manned spacecraft on the moon (“Time Line”). “Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the moon alone.” (“Time Line”). This final victory allowed the United States to overall win and end the Space