Women in Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures

Women in Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures — page 5
2 INTRODUCTION The Space Race began soon after the Allies won World War II America and the former Soviet Union inherited and made use of German technology specifically rocket technology Although the two countries had fought on the same side during World War II their relationship deteriorated in the years after ward The United States embraced democracy while the Soviet Union was ruled by communism Each side possessed nuclear weapons Though no open battles took place the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a cold war Both sides were convinced that their form of government was best A competition of sorts developed and the biggest contest was the Space Race The Soviet Union won the race to be first in space on October 4 1957 when Sputnik I was launched Weigh ing in at 184 pounds Sputnik I looked like a metal beach ball with four legs It orbited the Earth for 98 minutes Almost a month later Sputnik II went into space carrying a passenger a dog Launching a satellite was something the United States had been working on without much success One effort exploded on the launch pad The Soviets success spurred the United States on and America had its first success on January 31 1958 Explorer I was launched with a scientific unit that discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth later known as the Van Allen belts The Explorer and Sputnik programs continued with scien tific exploration although both the United States and the Soviet Union still had the occasional failure Six months after the first Explorer satellite the US Congress passed the National Aero nautics and Space Act to provide for research into problems of flight within and outside the earth’s atmosphere and for other purposes 1 Initially the US Department of Defense oversaw space mat ters but President Eisenhower saw the need for a civilian space