Essay: The launch of Sputnik

O: October 4th, 1957.  The U.S.S.R.’s former Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, sat at a dinner party amongst his guests as he anxiously awaited the results for the attempted launch of Sputnik.  At nearly 11 pm, Khrushchev left the room to take a call and returned several minutes later with an excited expression plastered on his face; the launch was a success.  Khrushchev reseated himself and beamed with pride as he broke the news to his audience, and began to describe Sputnik and its incredible significance in terms of space innovation.  Although the launch of Sputnik had not been known to the rest of the world at that point, Khrushchev took this opportunity to emphasize the advantages of socialism and Soviet superiority in missile construction to his guests (11).  On the other hand, nearly half a world away, the Americans had a completely different reaction to the same news.  A pre dinner gathering of Neil McElroy, Medaris, and Von Braun, was suddenly interrupted by Gordon Harris and a small radio emitting a steady beeping noise.  The brief moment of silence and shock was immediately followed by an outcry of panic and frustration from the government officials.  Von Braun, in particular, clearly expressed his frustration towards not being able to launch the world’s first satellite, as well as his feeling of panic and fear that the U.S. might fall behind the Soviet Union (12).
T: The successful launch of Sputnik dramatically changed the overall course of the space race.
T: Advanced Soviet space programs enabled the Soviet Union to launch Sputnik, which implied Soviet superiority and induced a rise of tensions in the U.S..
T: Superior Soviet science and space programs, established during the 1900s, allowed the Soviet Union to develop such a technologically advanced machine.
E: After the Russians industrialized, they began to shift their focus from agricultural technologies towards scientific research and development.  Prior to the Russian revolution, the Soviet Academy of Sciences had only 212 research workers, 5 laboratories, and 13 libraries.  By 1945, the Academy had grown to 4,213 scientists, 51 laboratories, and 73 libraries (15).  The organization also increased their budget from an initial 3 million rubles to nearly 175 million rubles by 1940.  Overall, the Soviet Union’s national income devoted to scientific research and development surged to twice the percentage that the entire U.S., both private and public sectors, had invested (7).  While the Great Depression forced Western nations to shut down their research institutes, Soviet establishments, like the Academy of Sciences, continued to gain more personnel and funding.  These statistics portray not only the enormous success of the Academy of Sciences, but of all Soviet science programs as well.
E: In addition to general science organizations, the Soviet Union also placed high priority on space research programs and facilities.  The Soviet Society for Studies of the Interplanetary Travel was established in Moscow in June 1924, while the American Interplanetary Society was formed nearly six years later (6).  In November 1931, the Group for Study of Rocket Propulsion was created in Leningrad and Moscow.  The Soviet government launched a missile development program in May 1946, and approved the production of the R7 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in 1954 (16).
A: The data suggests that it is quite logical that the Soviet Union was able to beat the U.S. in launching the world’s first artificial satellite.  Science academies and space programs were established far earlier in the Soviet Union than in the United States, which meant that the Soviets had more time to research and develop new technologies.  In addition, the Soviets also provided more funding and placed more priority on space technologies than the United States had.
S: The Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik was only made possible due to the long and extensive research of advanced Soviet science programs and increasing support for space innovation by Soviet leaders.
T: The U.S.S.R.’s several technological breakthroughs during the early years of the space race improved the Soviet’s reputation as a superpower.
E: As Khrushchev said in his memoirs, he tried to “derive the maximum political advantage from the fact that we were first to launch our rockets into space”(7), specifically through his use of Sputnik as a propaganda point (10).  The Soviet Union’s main intent was to prove the superiority of communist societies over capitalist countries.  In their description of Soviet spacecrafts, the International Affairs claimed “Our achievements in the field of technology in general and in rocketry in particular are only a result of the Socialist nature of Soviet society”(7).  The use of propaganda brought increased appeal to the Soviet Union and its communist views, particularly in underdeveloped nations that seeked a higher level of technology (9).  The U.S.S.R.’s claim of socialist superiority also seemed to illustrate Khrushchev’s dynamic style of leadership (11).
E: To many nations of the world, the launch of Sputnik proved Soviet leadership in scientific research and space technology (8).  The results of a survey completed in Western Europe and Japan, suggest that a significant amount of people believed the U.S.S.R. would become the dominant superpower over the next 25 years.  While only 6% of all Western Europeans thought the West was weaker than the Soviet Union, by November of 1957, 21% of British, 20% of French, 12 % of Italians and 10% of Germans considered the Soviets to be more advanced than the West.  In addition, 50% of British and 25% of French believed the U.S. was weaker than the the U.S.S.R. (7).
A: The belief of Soviet superiority, in terms of socialist societies and technology, brought much prestige and credibility to the U.S.S.R..  The launch of Sputnik was more than just an incredible scientific breakthrough; it was an event that gave the Soviets an incredible political and social advantage.  Not only did the heavy use of propaganda boost morale internally, it also served to promote socialism to nations outside of the Soviet Union.
S: The launch of Sputnik changed the way that other nations viewed the Soviet Union.
T: Sputnik’s military implications and the fear that the U.S. was falling behind in technology caused many Americans to feel alarmed and anxious.
E: The Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik, using an R7 ICBM as its conveyor, became evidence that the Soviet Union had created a fully functional ICBM (9).  This made the U.S., who lacked such technology, vulnerable to nuclear assault, as the ICBM was equally capable of transporting spy satellites or non-interceptable nuclear weapons (3).  During his 1960 UN speech, Khrushchev asked the U.S. whether it wanted “to create an incident that would be followed by rockets going into action”(13).  Khrushchev used the ICBM to his advantage, and often threatened U.S. allies with “a rain of rocket borne destruction”(3).
E: Space exploration became a top priority in the U.S., as they rushed to compete with the Soviet Union’s space technology.  Many programs, such as the USAF’s “Man in Space Soonest”, the U.S. Navy’s Manned Earth Reconnaissance, and the “Man Very High” project, were created in an attempt to beat the Soviet Union for the next obstacle: launching the first human into orbit (2).  The U.S. also raised their space exploration budget from $20 million in 1955, to $68 million in 1957 (14).  The U.S. government focused on improving science education and providing better job opportunities and higher pay for science, space, and engineering related careers (2).  However, the U.S.’s attempt to launch Vanguard failed miserably, resulting in a complete combustion 2 seconds after launching (5).
A: The fear of nuclear attack caused a surge in Cold War tensions within the U.S. and its allies.  Although the U.S. made desperate attempts to catch up to the Soviet Union, the embarrassing failure of Vanguard gave the world a reason to believe that the U.S. was indeed falling behind.  This came as an immense shock to most Americans, many of whom had taken U.S. superiority for granted.
S: After the launch of Sputnik, the U.S. made desperate attempts to catch up to the Soviet Union and prove that the U.S. was equally capable of great scientific achievements.
S: The launch of Sputnik was a remarkable scientific achievement that initiated the space race and provoked a surge in Cold War tensions.
T: The U.S.’s perspectives on space exploration and on the Soviet Union completely changed as a result of Sputnik.
O: Sputnik marked the beginning of the Space Age, in which both superpowers competed to match and surpass the other’s space technology.  In the Soviet Union, Sputnik I was followed by the launch of Sputniks II and III, as well as the first manned spaceflight by Yuri Gagarin.  Although the U.S. worked fiercely to match Soviet innovation by launching Explorer I, its ultimate goal was to beat the U.S.S.R. in the race to the moon.  After doing so, the U.S. began to cooperate with the U.S.S.R., which allowed both nations to work together in order to advance the world’s space technology in general (1).  Despite all of the tensions that were caused by the launch of Sputnik, I believe it was an incredibly significant event that changed the world for the better.  If not for Sputnik and its contribution to interplanetary innovation and the space race, we would not have the useful technology that is so prominent in our daily lives today.  In his book, Allan Winkler describes, “However worried the grown-ups might have been by this proof of Soviet wizardry, it lifted my heart, because rockets and satellites promised to carry our questions out into the heavens”(5).  I believe the launch of Sputnik was a crucial event in history, as it not only inspired young children and aspiring scientists around the world, but it also opened an entirely new universe, full of mysteries that was yet to be unraveled by mankind