USSR-US Space Race: Race to Prove Superiority - Essay Sample

Introduction

The space race was a heated competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in developing aerospace capabilities including human space flight, unmanned space probes, and artificial satellites. The US and USSR considered space race as a sign of scientific and technological superiority (Gorman & O'Leary, 2016). Space race also meant advanced military capability both on Earth and in space. By attaining success in space exploration, the two countries aimed at proving their superiority on one another (Bhattacherjee et al., 2018). However, the USSR showed progressive advancement in technology by its successes in sending probes to the Earth's orbit. Such successes caused a significant impact on the US society and culture. The US had to rethink its technological course of action by altering its strategic defense doctrines as well as initiating novel educational initiatives with the core agenda to equip its citizens with scientific defense capability (Bhattacherjee et al., 2018). Having not yet achieved such a technical milestone as did the USSR, the US considered themselves technologically behind and put necessary efforts to rejuvenate its capabilities. The US established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 to help in developing civilian aerospace research (Gorman & O'Leary, 2016).

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The Relevance of the Space Program

The space program is still relevant to date. Its benefits to humankind are innumerable. The technological advancements have highly depended on successful space exploration to give to earth some of the most exotic requirements that could never be achieved without the space program (Bhattacherjee et al., 2018). New technologies and research have sprung up, leading to a massive change in life and comfort. For example, the development of GPS, solar cells, accurate weather forecasts, and ultraviolet ray filters have been affiliated to successes in the space program. Still, more benefits are expected if the space program continues successfully such as exploration of planetary resources to enrich life on Earth (Gorman & O'Leary, 2016). For these and many other reasons, it is clear that space program is and will still remain relevant today and in the future.

Space Program is Worth the Cost

The space program is worth the cost associated with it. Just as expensive as it is, the success in space exploration is a significant reward to a country (Gorman & O'Leary, 2016). The benefits that come as a result of significant space achievements can be translated into considerable financial gain to the country. The life-supporting technologies that come as a result of the space program could translate into massive economic development (Bhattacherjee et al., 2018).

How the Space Program Benefits the U.S. National Economy

The space program is the source of knowledge and technology that supports critical industries, create new job opportunities, businesses, and financial revenues to the US economy (Bhattacherjee et al., 2018). As a result, the space program has caused a significant economic expansion in US cities, thereby forming major economic hubs for the country. The space program has accelerated technological advances in every field and sector, making life more comfortable and optimizing production (Gorman & O'Leary, 2016). The growth of new industries continuously replenishes new job creations for the US citizens improving their economic capabilities and enhancing lifestyles.

How the Space Program Benefits the World

The space program benefits the world in a myriad of ways. The program directly provides knowledge and understanding of our planet and the outside space. Such knowledge can help us understand the beginning of the universe and provide insights on how we can care for our planet to make it more comfortable and safe (Gorman & O'Leary, 2016). Space program facilitates cross-cultural growth by exhibiting essential collaboration among nations in constructing and continually man the international space station (ISS). The ISS provides a conducive environment for conducting critical research activities that could not be done on Earth (Bhattacherjee et al., 2018). The space program has inspired human cultural development through space travel and exposure to the conditions outside of the Earth. Apart from that, the space program has led to the development of the scientific community of teachers, researchers, and students worldwide. The scientific community has contributed a lot to the development of a pool of resources that continually enhance creativity and innovation to help in making life better.

The space program has fostered strategic global partnerships of many nations through the ISS program. As nations come together to explore the space, international peace and coexistence are achieved and this benefits all nations. Apart from that, the space program has dramatically improved global communications (Gorman & O'Leary, 2016). Advanced satellites today make remote communications possible anywhere in the world through the use of satellite phones, they provide internet services on airline flights as well as to the remote areas that could not get it by any other means. Weather satellites have enhanced accurate weather predictions anywhere in the world enabling people to plan appropriately for their activities (Bhattacherjee et al., 2018). Moreover, the space program has enhanced biomedical research that has contributed to significant innovations in treating human diseases.

Space Exploration's Domain

Space exploration is not the domain of the world's leading nations. Any nation can join the space exploration endeavor to advance their scientific research, boost national prestige, improve international relations, and gain military strategic advantages (Bhattacherjee et al., 2018). However, the exorbitant cost of space exploration is what sets apart the world's leading nations from the rest. Many nations have collaborated in joint investment with other nations to further their interests in space exploration. Currently, the principal investors in space exploration are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, China, Canada, Europe, Japan, and India (Gorman & O'Leary, 2016).

References

Bhattacherjee, D., Aqeel, W., Bozkurt, I. N., Aguirre, A., Chandrasekaran, B., Godfrey, P. B., ... & Singla, A. (2018, November). Gearing up for the 21st-century space race. In Proceedings of the 17th ACM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks (pp. 113-119). Retrieved from https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3286062.3286079

Gorman, A., & O'Leary, B. (2016). An ideological vacuum: The Cold War in outer space. A Fearsome Heritage (pp. 73-92). Routledge.