Cold War and Race Space

In 1945, when the Second World War ended, started the Cold War. This new conflict had as protagonists the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and these two superpowers of that time had different political and ideological systems and sought to expand their areas of influence.

For over four decades (1945-1991), these two countries fought a battle for the pursuit of world domination. They allocated money to restructure some nations, provided arms for separatist conflicts, intervening in foreign policy, etc. To expand their areas of influence, however, it was necessary to demonstrate superiority in various sectors, which promoted historical events.

United States and Soviet Union made large investments in technology, intended mainly for the defense industry. This fact was characterized as the armaments race. The world is divided into two blocs – the capitalist or socialist – he feared a possible confrontation between the two countries, as was (and still is) a great number of nuclear weapons in these nations.

In addition to spending for the armaments, the U.S. and USSR have also invested heavily in research related to knowledge of outer space, with emphasis on the exploitation of our natural satellite Moon. This time began the space race, in which the country who achieved the best results could determine the supremacy over the other.

In 1957, the Soviet Union left in advantage by the conquest of space. In October of that year, the country launched into space the first artificial satellite, called Sputnik, and in November the same year, the first living creature sent into space, the dog Laika, aboard Sputnik 2.

In contrast, the United States in 1958 launched the artificial satellite Explorer I, which was carrying several devices for research. However, the following year, the USSR had a major breakthrough in his research, carrying out the project Luna, who provided the acquisition of images (pictures) of the lunar surface.

Another big jump in the Soviet space race was given in April 1961. On this occasion, we performed the first manned flight by a human. On board the Vostok spacecraft, the astronaut Yuri Gagarin had the privilege to orbit the Earth and go down in history as the first human to achieve that feat and his famous phrase “The Earth is blue “.

The United States saw that were lagging behind, investing more in the space project. The result was achieved in 1962, when astronaut John Glenn flew around the Earth. As the research progressed, the goals became more complex. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space) aimed to reach the moon, an achievement that would revolutionize the space race.

On July 20, 1969, Americans astronauts Edwin Aldrin Jr., Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, crew of Apollo XI spacecraft reached the lunar surface. This accomplishment was broadcast on television, being marked by the following phrase from Neil Armstrong: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.

In 1975, the tension between these two countries has been decreasing about to come to exchange information on space exploration. This fact, besides the reduction of expenditures allocated to space research and the fragmentation of the Soviet Union marked the end of space travel.