Why did the us want to win the space race?

Answer 1

It cannot be said that the US definitely won the space race. A common definition of the "space race" during the 1960s was making the first moon first landing. The US is the only nation to have put a man on the moon. However, although the 'space race' was generally interpreted in the US as 'the race to put a man on the moon', this was a self invented definition. The Soviet Union had no manned moon landing program during the period of NASA's push to develop the Apollo missions. The act of getting to the moon was certainly a great achievement, but it was a program in itself, rather than part of a greater plan. Having attained the goal, the US public soon tired of the whole thing, and the moon project was abandoned.

On the other hand, Russia won the race to launch the first live creatures into space. Sputnik 5, also known as Korabl-Sputnik 2, was the second test flight of the Russian Vostok spacecraft. It was launched on 19 August 1960, and carried two dogs, Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, 2 rats and numerous plants. The spacecraft returned to earth on August 20, and all animals were recovered safely.

Russia also put the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin 1961). They put the first satellite in space (sputnik 1-1957) and they put the first space station in space (1971). Russia also performed the first space walk and had launched the first female in space. They also were the first to land a vehicle on the moon, the Luna 2. Wile the US was socncentrating its efforts on getting man to land on the moon, the Soviet Union, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, was achieving major successes in manned orbital satellites and the study of the effects of long term space missions on the cosmonauts.

(N.B. While it's mostly referred to as Russia it was officially called the Soviet Union until 1991, though Russia is recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet Union.)

Answer 2

The us won

Or then again, it didn't. There never was a space race in which two major powers were pitted against each other to be the first to land a man on the moon. The Apollo project was concieved by the US administration as a way to overshadow their constant record as 'runner up' in the race to conquer space.

The USSR had a moon program (Luna), but they had no manned moon project during the Apollo program. Instead, they launched probes to the inner planets, worked on the development of a permanent Space Station, and studied the effects of extended periods of weightlessness on the cosmonauts themselves.

The moon landings were a tremendous achievement, but they were not part of a race. Had the US never gone to the moon, the USSR had no immediate plans to go themselves.

The Soviet space program was always about unmanned probes, which could achieve a great deal without having to devote enormous resources to looking after a human cargo. At the time, many NASA engineers argued the benefits of an unmanned program, but they were overruled for political, rather than technical reasons.

Answer 3

The soviets were the first to launch an object (the artificial satellite Sputnik) into orbit. The US had plans to orbit a spacecraft which would have weighed about 1.8 pounds (one hundredth the mass of Sputnik) but were still months away. A few months after Sputnik, still before the Americans could launch, the Russians put a dog (Laika) into orbit in a space craft that weighed about one ton.

Within a couple of years the Soviet Union orbited Yuri Gagarin, the first human being into space. The Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space, and on her maiden mission spent more time up there than all the American astronauts combined up to that time.

Answer 4

The USA and the Soviet Union were in a space race in the 60's

Answer 5

to bomb America from space (so that it looked like USSR attacked them) and then declare war on USSR without the UN approval and that's how the cold war started

Answer 6

USSR also known as the soviet union did not win the space race. The United States won the space race by landing Neil Armstrong on the moon.

Answer 7

The US and USSR did compete in space by competing to attain the firsts in space exploration.

Answer 8

i pooped