Why was the U.S. so concerned with trying to be the first to put a man into space?

Answer 1

One major important reason for sending people to the moon has to do with the science of exploration. While the "space race" was actually an arms race, putting a man on the moon raised the bar on technology so high that many innovations that occurred in that time were far beyond the perceived capabilities of the time.

Answer 2

It had to do with the USA-USSR competition. However good a president he was, Kennedy was no rocket scientist, and he had no idea of the problems involved with a manned flight to the moon. [Putting a man on the moon would have been possible in the 1960's, but bringing him back alive would be difficult if not impossible even today in the opinion of this contributor.] The USA had already lost face when the USSR was the first to put an artificial satellite (Sputnik I) and a cosmonaut (Yuri Gargarin) in orbit before the USA launched Vanguard I and John Glenn. There were other races between the two superpowers, including the race to the North Pole by submarine.

Answer 3

The Space Race was a weapon in the Cold War to determine the superiority of the 2 super powers (the United States and the Soviet Union). Because the Soviets had sent up the first satellite, the first animal, the first man, and the first woman into space, it was important that the United States find something they could beat the Soviets at. President John Kennedy turned the Space Race into a race for the moon with his special message to Congress on May 25, 1961.

By sending the first men to the moon, the United States proved that its system of government was better, its technology was superior and its people were better at solving the many problems that were involved in sending people to the moon and back. 44 years after the first American walked on the moon, the United States remains the only country to send astronauts out of earth orbit.

Answer 4

Because the Soviet Union had beaten the United States in every space achievement up to the Gemini 6/7 rendezvous. The Soviets were the first nation to send a satellite into orbit, the first nation to send an animal into space, the first nation to send a man into space, the first nation to send a woman into space, the first nation to send a satellite around the moon, the first nation to sent unmanned vehicles to Venus and Mars. At the time of the Space Race, the 2 nations were engaged in a Cold War. The Space Race was a way for both countries to showcase their superior technology. The United States became the first nation to send men to the moon in large part because of geography. The United States launched its space probes from the east coast of Florida which is much closer to the equator than the launching pad used by the Soviets. The reason that was important was because the earth spins faster at the equator than it does at the poles. Thererfore, the vehicles launched by the United States required less power because they had a boost from the earth's rotation. The Soviets had to build much bigger rockets to boost the same payload into orbit. They were never able to successfully launch such a massive vehicle, so they couldn't send men to the moon.

Answer 5

It wasn't. Had Gus Grissom not died in the Apollo 1 fire, he would have been the first man on the moon. The astronauts were chosen for specific missions before NASA knew what those missions would be. When the crew of Apollo 11 was chosen during the Apollo 8 mission, it was not known they would attempt the first lunar landing.

Basically, Preisdent John F. Kennedy committed the United States to "land a man on the moon before this decade is out and return him safely to the earth." When he made that speech in 1962, man had only spent 105 minuts in space. Kennedy challenged the US to a manned lunar mission because the Soviets were the first to send a rocket into space, the first to send an animal into space, the first to send a man into space and the first to send a woman into space. It seemed at the time that the Soviets were the pioneers in space exploration. Kennedy's goal was made to offset some of those misconceptions. He decided that a trip to the moon would be a long enough goal that the US could beat the Soviets there and claim world supremacy not only in space exploration, but in technology in general. His plan worked perfectly.

Answer 6

What was important was for the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. to show supremacy in space flight. Putting a man on the moon was merely an indicator of that supremacy.

Answer 7

Because president John Kennedy set the U.S.A the target of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely by the end of the decade.

Answer 8

Mainly to beat the Soviets to it. They were first in space, which was a huge blow to American Pride. The way to fix that was to be first to the moon.

Answer 9

To beat the Russians