The Soviets side of the Space rave

While the Unites States were able to make a quick leap into space, the Soviets made an even bigger one leading to the beginning of what is known as the Space Race. This race and the leaps made by the Soviets was a great concern for United States since these feats were able to be translated into various advancements in the Soviets quest to obtain a nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missile. Their first great leap into space was the launch and orbit of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. This feat signified that the Soviets had the capability to reach space, causing the united states to worry about what else they might have the capability of reaching. An interesting fact about Sputnik is that anyone with a HAM radio could listen to the distinctive beeps as it passed over their heads. Sometimes people could even see the satellite as it passed over their heads with the help of a telescope or a pair of binoculars. This accomplishment was followed up three years later (1960) with the launch and survival of the first living animals into space, two dogs names Stelka and Belka. This accomplishment showed that the Soviets had the technology to send humans into space and come back safely.  This feat is exactly what they did, sending Yuri Gargari, into space in 1961 and only a year later put the first woman into space. While all of these feats were a great concern to the Unites States, none of them would have been possible without the help of German Rocket scientists. The Americans were able to capture almost all of the rocket scientists and information pertaining to the Nazi rocket program but in the chaos fallowing the end of the war, left some behind for the Russians to get.  In the beginning the Soviets conducted their rocket research with in Germany since the facilities were preexisting there.  However, as time went on Soviet officials grew weary and decided to move the research to the main land of the Soviet Union.  There they were under the command of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the lead Soviet rocket scientist. He is the one that has been credited with the creation and advancement of the soviet space program.  With only a few blue prints of the German V-2 rocket available to him, he was able to transform the V-2 in a new and advanced missile with additional boosters. This missile would later be transformed into the launch vehicle used in almost all of the advancements made by the Soviets. Just before his death, Korolev was working towards beating the Americans to the moon through the development of an extremely large rocket called the N1. This five stage rocket would have the capability to get to moon in one shot however it was quickly brushed aside after Korolev’s death and four failures within two minutes of the launch.  Korolev was a brilliant man who worked towards the advancement of the Soviet Space program but was rob of his life at the height of his career.  No one can deny that the Soviets were able to make manly leaps forward that have been able to advance society and space travel.

 

2 thoughts on “The Soviets side of the Space rave

  1. sxk535

    Good job presenting the other side of the story, since last blog post you talked a lot about American history! The explanation of the space race was pretty cool, and one suggestion I had was to maybe stagger the Soviet events with the American events so we can see this “race” unfold (e.g. Gagarin was sent into space and then X years later the Americans responded by putting Armstrong on the moon). I’m glad that you didn’t make the Soviets seem “evil” and kept a fairly objective view because it provided a more accurate picture of advancements in space technology and gave credit where it’s due. Another suggestion is to make sure you add a couple pictures to break up your text! I think pictures of Sputnik 1, Stelka and Belka, and Korolev would have been nice, relevant additions to your blog. Overall, nice work!

  2. avo5227

    I like how in this bog post you have diverged a bit from Von Braun to focus on pivotal aspect in the advancement of space travel. We all learn about the space race in our generic high school history class but we never go into as much detail as you did within this blog post! I like your unbiased approach in giving the Soviets credit for their immense contributions to space travel. I also like how you included the interesting fact about how people could here the beeps of Sputnik through their radio as it passed over head! I also like the fact that you included the progression of space travel from dogs to people, including the first women sent to space, all the while continuing to give credit to the German rocket scientist! Good job!

Leave a Reply