Topic+A-23+Discuss+the+U.S.+and+Soviet+Union+Arms+and+Space+Race

= =  United States and Soviet Union Arms and Space Race

By Ryan Vince, Tyler Stohr, Cami Kowalski, and Carlina Hernandez **The Cold War Divides the World and Threat of Nuclear War**

= toc = =**1. In 1949, what did the Soviet Union explode?** =

 In the August of 1949, the Soviet Union tested their first finished atomic bomb. This startled the U.S., as the Soviet’s progress was exceptionally quick, catching America of guard. The U.S. President at the time, Harry S. Truman, responded by working to improve U.S. weapo nry, primarily nuclear. This event marked the beginning of the Arms Race between America and Russia, a competition to build the most and the most powerful atomic weapons. The competition elevated with the explosions of the hydrogen bomb, in 1952 for the U.S. and 1953 for Russia; and America creating the B52 bomber, a plane capable of carrying nuclear bombs thousands of miles before dropping them. The B52 was created thanks to the U.S.’s money, while the Russians did not quite have the financial resources to build the threatening break through of the B52.



U.S. President Harry S. Truman, presidentfrom1945-53, beganhis term in 1945 with the death of previous president Franklin D. Roosevelt. He made some crucial decisions and was a part ofmany various tasks for America. Yet perhaps his most crucial decision was needed uncomfortably early in his presidency. It was Truman's decision whether or not the U.S. should drop an atomic bomb on Japan. He ordered the bombing of Hiroshima then Nagasaki,leading to the end of the war and the creation of the United Nations. Truman's actions in the arms race and space race were most honorable and successful, especially in the wake of an unforgettable president in Roosevelt.

=2. U.S. and Soviet Union both develop more powerful bomb. =

After the creation of the atomic bomb, a bomb based on the fission of atoms, the United States and Soviet Union built the much more powerful hydrogen bomb, a nuclear weapon of mass destruction not using fission, but fusion. In 1952, the U.S. successfully tested Mike, the first hydrogen bomb. This new weapon was scary, especially for other countries, for it is 500 times more powerful than the atomic bombs in the Trinity test, and releases 10.4 megatons of energy. Soviet Russia finished their testing of the hydrogen bomb in 1955.

Atomic bombs use __fission__- Splitting a nucleus into two smaller atoms, spare neutrons and energy, which is released in bombs and in things such as nuclear power plants, an energy source which America receives a big portion of our energy. Hydrogen bombs use __fusion__- Forcing two nuclei together, resulting in a bigger nucleus and even larger amounts of energy. Though fusion makes for a deadlier bomb, it is not as widely used as an energy source, for it often takes more energy to combine the nuclei then what is returned. This is because a nucleus is made of protons, a positively charged atomic particle; and neutrons, a neutral particle, so the two positively charged nuclei repel each other.

=** 3. What Is Brinkmanship? **=

· Brinkmanship is the willingness to go to the edge of war. · When General Dwight David Eisenhower was elected president of the United States a lot of power was handed down to his secretary of state, John Foster Dulles. He realized that one of the Soviet Unions neighboring countries could launch a nuclear missile to achieve success, and he created the policy called brinkmanship. The United States’ foreign policy became, “If a missile fired from any of the Soviet Union satellite countries strikes any NATO European country or the United States, the United States would consider the missile as being fired by the Soviet Union and thereby the United States would immediately attack the Soviet Union. ”The brinkmanship policy lasted during the presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. The United States and the Soviet Union finally backed away from brinkmanship in the 1970s. The superpowers slowly moved to lower tensions. But before countries were backing away from brinkmanship nuclear war seemed very possible.

= **4. Increasing tensions lead to:** =


 * Tensions in the U.S, Soviet Arms, and Space Race. – What caused the tensions in the Space Race? Well, most nations, such as Russia, America, China, ect, were trying to have the most advance technology to build rockets that could land on the moon. It became the main goal of the war to control not only planet earth, but the universe itself. The U.S. against U.S.S.R. in a face off of obtaining global powers wasn’t easy from the type of governments- Democracy against Totalitarianism, lasting for decades because of the suspicion, mistrust and the anxiety. With this in mind everyone races to become the first successful to have a landing on the moon or something used for space. **

The U.S.S.R. was at the lead from the successful Sputnik. People would assume of this finally being done to the Space Race would bring peace, but instead began to spread rumors that the nation can take control of other planets using them to control bombs or nukes from above and become more advance in weaponry.



= The Cold War in the Skies =



= = = 5. In 1957, Soviets launch, first unmanned satellite. = As Russia moved along with technological advancements in the 50's, they launched the first satellite into orbit, called Sputnik. Sputnik was basically a metal ball about the size of a beach ball with 4 legs and weighted 183.9 Pounds. On October 6th, 1957, Sputnik blasted off to start the Space Race. Sputnik took 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on an elliptical path. The Space Race was the series of launches that lead to significant development in satellites and rockets because the Soviets and the US were battling to be the leaders in Space equipment. On January 31, 1958, the US gained the lead by launching a better Explorer I into space to get ahead of the Soviets. The big advantage for the US was the fact that it had a scientific payload aboard that in turn discovered the earths magnetic fields. That July congress passed a bill to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration also known as NASA, which still exists today.

media type="custom" key="9400934" width="160" height="160" align="left" . = = = 6. In 1960, Soviets shoot down American, increasing tensions. =  **The U-2 plane was a spy plane that Eisenhower had made to spy on the interior parts of Russia. The CIA was put on the job and quickly talked to Lockheed Martin and had them develop the CL-282. Designed to fly around 70,000 feet, it was out of enemy fire range. The goal for the U-2 plane was to get photos and spy on Russia for any threatening activity from them. This design for a plane was originally rejected from the Air Force because of lack of maneuverability and armament. For whatever reason, when Gary Powers was on a spy mission over Russia, he was shot down and captured and spent 1 year 9 months and 9 days in prison before the US "traded" him for a Soviet spy who was caught in the United States. How he was shot down will likely never be known, some say that he actually landed, although improbable, in Russia. The main belief that people believe that he was shot down is because for whatever reason he was not flying at 70,000 feet like he should have been to avoid enemy fire. **

= = = = =Works Cited: =

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