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Apollo 11 and The Space Race

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Apollo 11: revolutionary breakthrough, apollo 11: modern impact, works cited.

• Dunbar, Brian. “United States-Soviet Space Cooperation during the Cold War.” NASA, NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/coldWarCoOp.html.
• https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/80660main_ApolloFS.pdf https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1156874/moon-landing-inspiring-nasa-apollo-11-motivated-elon-musk-create-spacex-space-news
• https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1156874/moon-landing-inspiring-nasa-apollo-11-motivated-elon-musk-create-spacex-space-news

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The Space Race Between the United States and Russia Research Paper

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The space race was a competition between two rivals who aimed at achieving spaceflight capability power in the 20 th century. The United States of America and the Union Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR), currently known as Russia, engaged in a battle to prove their superiority after the Second World War. The origin of struggle began in the intercontinental ballistic missile-based nuclear weapons between the two nations. The conflict hostility constituted physical battles, diplomatic engagements, and technological advancements. In the 1960s, the war extended beyond the earth’s gravity. The warfare advanced to another level of space due to the atmospheric control prospect and the undebatable message translated to the international community. Space was the final avenue for the Soviets and the United States to compete for their sole superpower status. This paper shows how space exploration has contributed significantly to the rapid growth of technology and other technical ways of addressing global challenges, among other benefits for humanity.

National leaders from the United States and Russia discovered the space exploration opportunity from a political perspective. The investigation led to a funding mission for scientists, among other researchers, to study more and provide equipment that could enable them to win the battle. They spent billions of dollars on the projects to outdo each other. Superior scientific equipment sent people messages about military capabilities and different conclusions (Gainor 80). Sky dominance was more important than land battles since it was a way of proving to the entire world unchallenged superiority.

In October 1957, the USSR launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, which alarmed the Eisenhower administration, the 34 th president of the United States. The US public knew the Soviets had surpassed their technologssical achievements, creating intense fear and anxiety. The sputnik satellite was orbited and could send out beeps from the radio transmitter, which could be detected as it passed through the orbit (Wang). In November 1957, Russia achieved more space ventures by making Sputnik 11 that could carry a living creature, a dog.

The United States had been working independently to launch a satellite before the unveiling of Sputnik. Space exploration activities in the United States have been consolidated into an agency in the government known as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This committee’s formation indicated their commitment to winning the Space Race. It had made two failed attempts at launching a space station. In January 1958, they completed a rocket called Explorer that carried a satellite. The team consisted of German rocket engineers who were involved in developing ballistic missiles for NAZI in Germany. The Explorer could take several instruments into space for science experiment procedures. The gadgets applied a Geiger counter that detected cosmic rays (Wang). This careful experimentation and other measurements from later satellites have proved the existence of Van Allen radiation belts on earth.

The Soviets produced the first human in space who made one orbit on April 1961 around the earth. The flight lasted 108 minutes in the rotation before returning to the earth (Taylor et al. 3453). The discovery by the Soviet’s space program crushed a blow to NASA scientists. Three weeks later, NASA launched an astronaut into space on a suborbital trajectory, unlike the Soviets, who did an orbital flight (Wang). NASA’s suborbital aeronautics lasted 15 minutes since it was made to go some way around (Taylor et al. 3455). The Soviets were ahead of NASA technologically, although this was a sigh of relief for the United States scientists.

Launching the first world artificial satellite, the first human, and the first dog in space led to other achievements of the Soviet Union ahead of the United States. The milestones included Luna 2 in 1959, which became the first human-made object to reach the moon. USSR also launched Luna 3 a few months later, a human orbit mission around the earth for a full day. Russia was the first to achieve the spacewalk and introduced the Vostok 6 mission, which involved the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova, to travel to space (Carroll 8). President John F. Kennedy challenged the Americans to develop an ambitious goal of landing on the moon and returning to earth safely.

In the 1960s, progress was made following President Kennedy’s goal of the landing on the moon program. The project was named Gemini, whereby astronauts tested their ability to endure spaceflight for many days and the technology required to make the trip successful. Project Apollo later followed that took astronauts to the lunar surface and orbit around the moon between 1968 and 1972 (Shelhamer 51). All along, the Soviets had suffered from low funds to finance the scheme, which made them withdraw from pursuing the moon program. Russia had been drained financially from its investment in developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons to achieve strategic correspondence with the United States.

The cosmonauts encountered many challenges while developing the scheme, including tragedy. For instance, in 1967, Apollo 1 fire swept through the spacecraft’s command module. The deaths of Edward White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee were witnessed, which was a real blow to those who rooted for the US to win the space race (Shelhamer 51). In December 1968, Apollo 8 was the first successful crew to orbit the moon (Shelhamer 51). The astronauts took photos that helped safely land Apollo 11 on the moon. In 1969, the United States successfully sent its first astronauts to the moon (Shelhamer 52). Neil Armstrong was pronounced the first human to set foot on the moon’s surface (Shelhamer 52). During this time, the cosmonauts collected samples of lunar dust and rocks that aided scientists in studying more about the moon.

NASA launched a series of space probes during the 1960s and 1970s known as Mariner, in which they studied Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Space stations marked the next phase of space exploration. Soviet Salyut 1 station was the first space station in earth orbit in 1971 (Crusan and Galica 56). NASA also launched Skylab space, the first orbital laboratory for scientists and astronauts who studied the earth and the effects of spaceflight on the human body. NASA also carried out the project Viking which landed on Mars in the 1970s (Crusan and Galica 57). They took several photographs and examined the chemistry of the surface environment. The scientists also tested the Martian dirt and the microorganism’s presence.

The Apollo lunar program ended in 1972 when human space exploration became limited to low-earth orbit. Many countries are now involved in researching International Space Station (ISS). Other unpiloted probes have traveled through the solar system, making various discoveries. Some findings include the moon of Jupiter, a moon of Saturn, and oceans under their surface that scientists conclude might harbor life (Crusan and Galica 57). Instruments in space have also discovered other planets orbiting other stars, the exoplanet. Advanced technology since 1995 allows the gadgets in space to characterize the atmospheres of these other planets.

The space race fueled cold war suspicion and rivalry between the United States and Russia. However, it yielded considerable benefits to the entire world. The exercise required a rapid improvement of various fields, including micro-technology, telecommunications, solar power, and computer science (Arzo). Space exploration was necessary since the world could tell which country had the best science, economic system, and technology. After the Second World War, the Soviets and the Americans realized the importance of rocket research to the military. Sending the first man to the moon showed that the United States was a leader in the world, although the Soviets had achieved the first human in space.

Space exploration led to many societal benefits that included the generation of scientific knowledge, the inspiration of people worldwide, and the diffusion of innovation. It introduced agreements between countries that participated in the probe and the creation of markets (Arzo). The International Space partners are strengthened through the association, and job opportunities for the space products and services are created (Arzo). Other benefits of the space race involve economic prosperity, environmental advantages, health, safety, and security (Arzo). The competition made it easy for other researchers to understand humankind’s place in the universe. Admittedly, the human experience is expanded through study and experiments.

The world has created new opportunities for addressing global challenges through partnerships and capabilities development. Space exploration has attracted broad international interest by producing relationships, competencies, and knowledge that help society deal with matters pressing them. It is a catalyst for nations to introduce other explorations of the planetary worlds, emphasizing that other planets might support life. Countries have mutual understanding and trust that advance common discovery goals helping align interests in the community and promoting diplomacy. For instance, the International Space Station (ISS) program requires more extensive international cooperation to achieve the best results (Pekkanen 96). The unity strengthens the capacity for peace and globally coordinated activities on earth and in space.

The ISS partnership has demonstrated the international cooperation functional dimension. It enables parties with different investment levels to access the unaffordable space laboratory for any partner (Neubert et al. 13). The collaboration has overcome economic and political strains to achieve its core mission. The diplomatic value of international unity has been shown through the exploration exercise. Astronauts who served in the ISS are observed as achievers since it is a technical procedure (Neubert et al. 15). cooperation between nations on challenging space projects establishes the ability to advance common goals jointly, thus improving diplomatic ties and other activities.

The space race between the United States and Russia has benefited humans and society. Space exploration yielded technological and scientific innovations that help people every day. Having machines and humans in space presents a challenge that the utmost imagination can overcome. The exercise led to new knowledge and technical revolution that is used on earth in unpredictable ways. The competition served a cultural and inspirational purpose by satisfying a deep need to explore and understand the world. It addresses the questions about the origin and nature of life and the universe. Global challenges can quickly be addressed since satellites provide unique opportunities to counter issues facing society today. The cooperation of nations beyond space help promote more union among the countries. The togetherness aligns interests that enhance peace and stability on the entire globe. No activity on earth matches the exceptional threats of the space race, thus giving reasons for confidence that renews investments for future generations’ positive impact.

Works Cited

Arzo, Sisay Tadesse, et al. “Essential Technologies and Concepts for Massive Space Exploration: Challenges and Opportunities.” IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems , 2022.

Carroll, Clover. “The First Woman in Space.” Guardian (Sydney) 2011, 2022, vol. 8.

Crusan, Jason, and Carol Galica. “NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative: Enabling broad access to space.” Acta Astronautica, vol. 157, 2019, pp. 51-60.

Gainor, Christopher. “The Nuclear Roots of the Space Race.” Militarizing Outer Space: Astroculture, Dystopia and the Cold War , 2021, pp. 69-91.

Neubert, Torsten, et al. “The ASIM Mission on the International Space Station.” Space Science Reviews, vol. 215, 2019, pp. 1-17.

Pekkanen, Saadia M. “Governing the New Space Race.” American Journal of International Law, ol. 113, 2019, pp. 92-97.

Shelhamer, Mark. “Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space Race.” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, vol. 72, no. 1, 2020, pp. 51-53.

Taylor, Andrew J., et al. “Factors Affecting Flavor Perception in Space: Does the Spacecraft Environment Influence Food Intake by Astronauts?” Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, vol. 19, no. 6, 2020, pp. 3439-3475.

Wang, Erik. “Sputnik to Apollo: The Constituents of America’s Response to Soviet Space Accomplishments.” Available at SSRN 3772353 , 2021.

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IvyPanda. (2024, February 7). The Space Race Between the United States and Russia. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-space-race-between-the-united-states-and-russia/

"The Space Race Between the United States and Russia." IvyPanda , 7 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/the-space-race-between-the-united-states-and-russia/.

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The Space Race

By: History.com Editors

Updated: February 21, 2020 | Original: February 22, 2010

After World War II drew to a close in the mid-20th century, a new conflict began. Known as the Cold War, this battle pitted the world’s two great powers—the democratic, capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union—against each other. Beginning in the late 1950s, space became another dramatic arena for this competition, as each side sought to prove the superiority of its technology, its military firepower and–by extension–its political-economic system.

Causes of the Space Race

By the mid-1950s, the U.S.-Soviet Cold War had worked its way into the fabric of everyday life in both countries, fueled by the arms race and the growing threat of nuclear weapons, wide-ranging espionage and counter-espionage between the two countries, war in Korea and a clash of words and ideas carried out in the media. These tensions would continue throughout the space race, exacerbated by such events as the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and the outbreak of war in Southeast Asia.

Space exploration served as another dramatic arena for Cold War competition. On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”), the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit. Sputnik’s launch came as a surprise, and not a pleasant one, to most Americans. In the United States, space was seen as the next frontier, a logical extension of the grand American tradition of exploration, and it was crucial not to lose too much ground to the Soviets. In addition, this demonstration of the overwhelming power of the R-7 missile–seemingly capable of delivering a nuclear warhead into U.S. air space–made gathering intelligence about Soviet military activities particularly urgent.

Did you know? After Apollo 11 landed on the moon's surface in July 1969, six more Apollo missions followed by the end of 1972. Arguably the most famous was Apollo 13, whose crew managed to survive an explosion of the oxygen tank in their spacecraft's service module on the way to the moon.

NASA Is Created

In 1958, the United States launched its own satellite, Explorer I, designed by the U.S. Army under the direction of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun . That same year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a public order creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ), a federal agency dedicated to space exploration.

Eisenhower also created two national security-oriented space programs that would operate simultaneously with NASA’s program. The first, spearheaded by the U.S. Air Force, dedicated itself to exploiting the military potential of space. The second, led by the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ), the Air Force and a new organization called the National Reconnaissance Office (the existence of which was kept classified until the early 1990s) was code-named Corona; it would use orbiting satellites to gather intelligence on the Soviet Union and its allies.

Space Race Heats Up: Men (And Chimps) Orbit Earth

In 1959, the Soviet space program took another step forward with the launch of Luna 2, the first space probe to hit the moon. In April 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit Earth , traveling in the capsule-like spacecraft Vostok 1. For the U.S. effort to send a man into space, dubbed Project Mercury, NASA engineers designed a smaller, cone-shaped capsule far lighter than Vostok; they tested the craft with chimpanzees  and held a final test flight in March 1961 before the Soviets were able to pull ahead with Gagarin’s launch. On May 5, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space (though not in orbit).

Later that May, President John F. Kennedy made the bold, public claim that the U.S. would land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. In February 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth, and by the end of that year, the foundations of NASA’s lunar landing program–dubbed Project Apollo –were in place.

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Achievements of Apollo

From 1961 to 1964, NASA’s budget was increased almost 500 percent, and the lunar landing program eventually involved some 34,000 NASA employees and 375,000 employees of industrial and university contractors. Apollo suffered a setback in January 1967, when three astronauts were killed after their spacecraft caught fire during a launch simulation. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union’s lunar landing program proceeded tentatively, partly due to internal debate over its necessity and to the untimely death (in January 1966) of Sergey Korolyov, chief engineer of the Soviet space program.

December 1968 saw the launch of Apollo 8, the first manned space mission to orbit the moon, from NASA’s massive launch facility on Merritt Island, near Cape Canaveral, Florida . On July 16, 1969, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong , Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins set off on the Apollo 11 space mission, the first lunar landing attempt. After landing successfully on July 20, Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon’s surface; he famously called the momen t “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Who Won the Space Race?

By landing on the moon, the United States effectively “won” the space race that had begun with Sputnik’s launch in 1957. For their part, the Soviets made four failed attempts to launch a lunar landing craft between 1969 and 1972, including a spectacular launch-pad explosion in July 1969. From beginning to end, the American public’s attention was captivated by the space race, and the various developments by the Soviet and U.S. space programs were heavily covered in the national media. This frenzy of interest was further encouraged by the new medium of television. Astronauts came to be seen as the ultimate American heroes, and earth-bound men and women seemed to enjoy living vicariously through them. Soviets, in turn, were pictured as the ultimate villains, with their massive, relentless efforts to surpass America and prove the power of the communist system.

With the conclusion of the space race, U.S. government interest in lunar missions waned after the early 1970s. In 1975, the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission sent three U.S. astronauts into space aboard an Apollo spacecraft that docked in orbit with a Soviet-made Soyuz vehicle. When the commanders of the two crafts officially greeted each other, their “ handshake in space ” served to symbolize the gradual improvement of U.S.-Soviet relations in the late Cold War era.

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The Space Race

• First Online: 01 January 2014

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• William Sims Bainbridge 3  

Part of the book series: Space and Society ((SPSO))

This chapter focuses on the great Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union, roughly in the decade and a half 1957–1972, which is the period in which public opinion polls for the first time asked many questions about spaceflight. Initially, few citizens understood anything about spaceflight, or much about the solar system, so one trend reveals increasing awareness. Depending on exactly what questions were asked, citizens always showed great disagreement over what priority should be given to the American space program. Generally the majority was opposed to increased funding, but there was sufficient public support so that political elites could invest in the program. Leaders of two kinds built the space program: (1) opinion leaders within the general society who shaped public opinion, and (2) organization leaders who influenced public opinion from outside, being or seeking to become members of a societally influential elite class.

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Bainbridge, W.S. (2015). The Space Race. In: The Meaning and Value of Spaceflight. Space and Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07878-6_2

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What the Space Race Left Behind

How should the artifacts of the space race be preserved?

The space race of the Sixties now seems a distant memory: all those moonwalks, Cold War rivalries, and lunar preoccupations. But on the anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s 1969 “giant leap for mankind,” it’s worth looking for the material traces of that far-off push to intergalactic greatness. Roger D. Launius looks at the different fates of some of the Space Race’s many physical landmarks —some of which haven’t been cherished in the way you might expect.

The Apollo mission was not just a huge technological triumph, it was also a cultural touchstone for the United States. Developed in response to Cold War worries about the scientific dominance of the Soviet Union, Apollo consumed huge amounts of financial resources and cultural capital. Since the program was born of this particular geopolitical moment, however, it proved unsustainable once political circumstances shifted.

As a result, the physical structures of the Apollo program were viewed as disposable and were often modified for other uses. The Kennedy Space Center launch pads where astronauts underwent their pre-space ritual were sites of wonder and emotion, but the “NASA has sought to destroy and dispose of the [Launch Umbilical Tower] since the early 1980s.” Despite designation of one of the launch complexes on the National Register of Historic Places , the remains of the tower that hosted the launches of the Apollo program and some of the space shuttles was destroyed in 2004 . Other facilities are currently being reused, not preserved.

There is another approach: The wholesale preservation of facilities like the Johnson Space Center’s historic mission control room . But Launius finds that funding and political scuffles have long plagued attempts to preserve other locations that were critical to the Apollo mission. Though NASA maintains the Apollo I spacecraft that famously burned , killing three astronauts, it is not currently viewable by the public and its preservation status is unclear.

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Given the significance of the Apollo missions and America’s space race, writes Launius, that’s problematic. Even NASA’s artifacts on the moon are in question as lunar exploration becomes a possibility in other countries, and it remains unclear how the American artifacts, including lunar module ascent stages and a commemorative plaque, are to be preserved. In any case, these remnants are important for American identity and historical inquiry. All told, they help support “a master narrative” about their time, one that is connected to that of history’s great explorers and what Launius calls “America’s grand vision for the future.”

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Illustration by Alex Schomburg

The Space Race is Over

It was perhaps most popular in the 1950s, as a new consumer society began confidently rolling off the production line, and the age of literary science fiction arguably reached its peak. It was particularly popular with children, who read about it in comics with titles like Fantastic Adventures and Planet Stories . But many adults were equally sold on the promise offered. It was assumed fairly widely that by the year 2000 the promise would have been kept, and that humanity would benefit greatly.

It didn’t take long for this optimism to abate, and for a few decades the idea seemed to disappear from the popular consciousness. But I’ve noticed that in the last few years that old promise has resurfaced in the popular consciousness. This time around, though, it has a different taste to it. This time around, it seems more like a threat.

I’m talking about the human colonization of other worlds. It seems eccentric even to write the words, but there’s no doubt that a belief in humanity’s need—perhaps its destiny—to colonize the moon, or Mars, or other worlds known or unknown, is making a strange kind of cultural comeback. No matter that it is no more practical now than it was in the 1950s. No matter that it doesn’t look likely that it could happen within the lifetime of anyone alive today, if ever. The practicalities are not the point: it is a fantasy, a motif. It is a means of salvation.

Back in the optimistic 1950s, with the promise of material abundance everywhere, the space race beginning, and much of the population of the Western world still excited about the possibilities offered by new technologies and a beneficial, authoritative science, the idea of humans some day extending their reach to other worlds seemed simply an inevitable progression. I remember believing it myself at school in the late 1970s and the early 80s. This was the future, and it looked great. I consumed Isaac Asimov novels at a rate of knots. I was looking forward to it.

Today, the world is a different place. The popular faith in science and technology has drained away, to be replaced by a widespread, if often unspoken, fear. From biotechnology to geoengineering, from unmanned drones to internet surveillance, the democratic promise of technology has been transmuted into an authoritarian threat. Meanwhile, that vision of science-fueled progress has done as much damage as it has offered improvement. With the climate changing, with the sixth mass extinction well underway, with the ocean swimming in our industrial refuse, with our own chemical backwash in our breast milk and bloodstreams, it’s a harder world for techno-optimists to find a voice. We have opened the box and seen where our ambition leads, and though we might quickly close it again and look away, it is too late in the day for any kind of innocence.

I think it is precisely this fear of the future, this sense of a looming apocalypse, this feeling that we have unleashed a monster that is now beyond our control, that has given rise to the latest outburst about the colonization of other worlds. This time, the idea is not buoyed on a tide of optimism and hope, but tinged with desperation, sadness and sometimes even anger. This time, it is not our next exciting adventure, but our final hope.

Just in the last few years, I have seen a number of people who should know better speculating on how colonizing Mars may be humanity’s best prospect for a liveable future. The logic verges on the psychopathic: We have now wrecked this planet beyond the point of no return; there are too many people here, our political systems are unable to contain our technological or economic ambitions, and individual greed and desire is running out of control. There is no way that seven billion people can live the kind of lifestyle they apparently want to live without endless conflict and ecological destruction.

The solution? Not to change ourselves, but to find another planet on which to replay the same script. If we begin to shift people "offworld," we will have new frontiers to explore. The pressure on Earth will be reduced. We will be saved, by our cleverness, from the consequences of our cleverness.

Some of the voices which have been clamoring for humans to build themselves a presence on other worlds have been predictable enough. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, for example, a veteran of those optimistic times, called last year for "American permanence on the planet Mars" within two decades. Stephen Hawking, probably the world’s most famous scientist, recently insisted that "we must continue to go into space for humanity...We won’t survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet."

Physicists and astronauts can be excused their daydreams, but they are no longer alone. New strands have been woven into the optimistic space rhetoric of earlier times, and one of the most common is the suggestion that colonizing other worlds will provide new space for humans to expand—and, perhaps crucially, may offer new resources for the toys, gadgets and machines we are mining our own planet to death to get hold of. Writing in the millionaire’s magazine of choice Forbes last year, technology writer James Conca made this case starkly: "Growing shortages of key inorganic elements, such as rare earth elements for all our electronic gadgets and renewable energy systems, platinum and other related metals…suggest that we may need more non-renewable resources than Earth can provide," he explained.

You will find arguments like this in every niche on the internet now: we need more space, we need more stuff, and we can’t find it here. Maybe it is "out there" instead! Bind this bundle of blind greed and desire with a length of imperial bombast—insist that exploring space is the equivalent of exploring the oceans in an earlier age, that it is our right and our destiny—and you have a whole new fantastical mythology on your hands. Now, the planet which created us is what holds us back from achieving our potential. Note how Hawking talks of "escaping" the Earth, as if the only living planet we know of, the source of all life, were a prison, and the dead vacuum of space offered the clean air of freedom. It takes a strange kind of mind to believe this. Perhaps it takes a brilliant one.

At the same time as this seed has begun to re-establish itself in the intellectual topsoil of the industrial world, I have seen other utopian weeds begin to flourish. I recently had a conversation with a woman who told me she was looking forward to the development of the artificial uterus—a technology which is currently being explored—so that women could be relieved of the burden of pregnancy and birth. She believed it would foster gender equality.

Perhaps related to this is the ever-popular dream of the "Singularity"—itself a term coined in the 1950s. The Singularity is the point at which machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence, and all bets are off about the future of our species (and presumably every other species too). The Singularity is an idea that used to be confined to the hipster idealists of Silicon Valley, but it has recently broken free and is beginning to establish itself more widely.

There is plenty more technological utopianism that could be added to this list: the ongoing crusade by neo-environmentalists to use biotechnology to recreate extinct species, for example. Or perhaps even the increasingly dominant concept of the "Anthropocene" era, the Age of Humans, in which we have changed the Earth so radically that our only option is to act as if we were not simply inhabitants but creators: to take on the mantle of gods in order to correct our mistakes. For a culture which pivots around a need for control and a deeply anthropocentric idea of human manifest destiny, the appeal of this notion is clear enough.

What are we to make of this? Is it some strange, deranged endgame? Perhaps techno-industrial society, hyped up on its own sense of indestructibility, is hitting walls everywhere and doesn’t have the intellectual or spiritual equipment to deal with the resulting mess. All we can do is argue for more of the same: more onward momentum, more technological mediation, more control. Are these anything more than the fantasies of people whose worldview is crumbling? Are they any more than delusions?

Certainly many of these fantasies—because this is what they are—start to fall apart on examination. Take that colonization of Mars, for example. The writer John Michael Greer recently drew attention to a paper published in the journal Nature in 1997. A team of economists had calculated how much value was contributed to the global economy by nature, as opposed to human effort. Their results suggested that, for every US dollar’s worth of goods and services consumed by human beings each year, around 75 cents are provided free of charge by the Earth’s ecosystems. Only the remaining 25 cents were created by human economic activity. If we were to colonize a dead planet, like Mars, we would somehow need to make up that 75 percent on our own, working it up from a world of dead rock and dust. How would we do it? We have no idea. In all likelihood, it would be entirely impossible.

So, what should we call this clutching at straws? We could call it idealism, even utopianism. It is clearly both of those things. But perhaps it is something else too. Perhaps it is a modern day form of Romanticism.

Look up the word "Romantic" in a dictionary, and you will probably be met with definitions like this: "exaggeration or picturesque falsehood… A sense of remoteness from or idealization of everyday life … Exaggerate or distort the truth, especially fantastically." "Romantic" is a word that is commonly thrown around, often by the kind of people who idealize Mars bases, to dismiss people who draw inspiration from the past rather than the future. It is a popular insult, which, as so many insults do, relieves the insulter of the burden of thinking.

A "Romantic," in these terms, is somebody who views the past through "rose-tinted spectacles," and desires a return to it. Somebody who, for example, idealizes rural communities and low technology cultures and doesn’t understand the harshness and horror of preindustrial life. A "Romantic" is usually a bourgeois escapist, who sees "nature" as welcoming rather than threatening, doesn’t realize that life before the coming of antibiotics and television was nasty, brutish and short, and is only able to hold those views because of his or her privileged position within the protective bubble of industrial society.

This caricature is not entirely unfounded. Certainly there are plenty of naive visions of the past around, and there are plenty of unrealistic assessments of the present as well. But it seems to me that Romanticizing the past, in our culture at this point in time, is less common than Romanticizing the future. The only difference is that Romanticizing the future is socially acceptable.

Consider what the two worldviews have in common. One of them looks back to a period of the past which is considered to be superior to the present, and draws inspiration from it. So a "primitivist," for example, may look right back to the Paleolithic era, before the development of agriculture, and hail this as the high point of human development. We lived in harmony with the natural world until the first grain seed was cultivated, after which we slid into a future of hierarchy, control and ecological destruction. Because there is no possibility of getting back to this period, and because we know very little about it, it is easy to project our emotional needs onto it. This is essentially the Christian narrative of the Fall re-tooled for an anti-capitalist age, and it has the same primal appeal.

It’s not hard to find people who swim in these waters. I’ve swum there myself, and I find it a tempting and comforting story. Perhaps buying into narratives like this is foolish, or perhaps it is just human. But if it is foolish, is it any more so than indulging in fantasies about moon bases and salvation by silicon chip? What is the difference between those who project their needs onto the past, and those who project them onto the future? What is the difference between someone who sees perfection in the ice age, and someone who sees perfection in the space age? It may not always be realistic to look to the past for inspiration, but at least we know, more or less, what the past was like. We have no idea what the future will bring. Perhaps that is the attraction: space is empty, in every sense, and that makes it big enough to contain all of our dreams, however baroque.

Still, if we are going to use words like "Romantic," we should at least understand their provenance. The Romantic movement, which flourished during the first half of the 19th century, was a reaction to the utilitarianism of the 18th-century "Enlightenment." It responded to the dehumanizing impact of mass industry, the rationalization of nature and the increasing emphasis on human reason, with a defense of an emotional, intuitive reaction to the natural world and to human relationships. Though it is perhaps best known today through the poetry of Wordsworth or the art of the German landscape painters, it was at the time just as deeply entwined with radical politics and an assault on the dogmas of materialism and scientism. If it sometimes idealized the past, that was probably an inevitable reaction to the bombastic championing of the future which was going on all around.

Personally, I don’t think the word "Romantic" should be used as an insult at all; like its counterpart "Luddite," it is a misused historical term. But if it must be—and perhaps it is too late to turn things around—then at least let it be an equal opportunities insult. If it is to be used to condemn those who idealize particular time periods, let the time periods encompass those yet to come as well as those which have gone.

Looked at this way, the Mars-base future, like the future in which we rebuild passenger pigeons in laboratories, breed babies in machines and download our consciousness into silicon chips, is an exercise in Space Age Romanticism. The kind of people who are disgusted by an idealized past can often barely contain their enthusiasm for an idealized future. And when objections are raised, they can dress their visions up in moral language: we must save the planet, we must provide new space for humans to develop and meet their ever-increasing needs. Expect to hear more of this in years to come, as the situation here on Earth grows more desperate.

What is to be done about this? The answer to this question, as so often, seems to me to be personal rather than political. There is no way to prevent this society from Romanticizing progress and technology, and there is no way to prevent it coming down hard on visions of human-scale and ecological development. It will continue to do this until its own intellectual framework, and probably its physical framework, collapses under its own weight. These attitudes are in our Space Age DNA.

But what we can do, when presented with a vision which projects an ideal onto either the future or the past, is examine our own personal need to be deluded. Engage with any of the world’s great spiritual teachers, or many of its secular philosophers, and you will come across the claim that most of us, most of the time, are caught up in our own delusions. That is to say, we are creating our own mental maps of the world, by which we navigate its harsh tracts, and we are hugely reluctant to see these maps taken from us, or to see any of the directions printed upon them questioned. These maps may be religious, philosophical, political or any variation of these things. But they mean that when we look out at the world, we don’t see the world itself, we see our own perception of it, and that perception of it is colored by our own emotional needs.

So, if we need to believe in progress, we will believe in progress. If we need to believe in Apocalypse, we will believe in that. If we need to deny the existence of climate change, or believe we can go back to the Pleistocene or forward to the Martian future, we will believe those things, and as long as we want to believe them, nothing can tear those maps from our hands.

The purpose of delusions is to comfort us, and our Space Age delusions comfort us on a civilizational level. The best way around them is probably to examine our own mental maps—and thus our own minds—and try to deflect them as they come. This is the work of a lifetime, but perhaps in the end it is the only work.

"All that we are," explained the Buddha 2,500 years ago, "is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become." We can see what our civilization is becoming, and where it is going too. What delusions brought you here—and how do you begin to strip them away?

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UKnowledge > Lewis Honors College > Capstone Collection > 19

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

How hostile was the space race an examination of soviet-american antagonism and cooperation in space.

Mitchell Mundorff , University of Kentucky Follow

Year of Publication

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Degree name.

B.A. in History & Russian Studies

First Capstone/Thesis Advisor

Dr. Cynthia Ruder

It is commonly accepted that the United States and the Soviet Union competed, and did not cooperate, with one and other between World War II and the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990s. This is problematic, due to several joint projects undertaken by the two nations during this period, and especially the Apollo-Soyuz Experimental Test Project. Analysis of contemporary and secondary sources shows that though there was a large degree of competition between these superpowers, the idea of working together was proposed several times before it became a reality. Once the nations decided to move forward with Apollo-Soyuz, they successfully accomplished their goals. Examples such as Apollo-Soyuz call into question the conventional thinking that the USA and the USSR were mortal enemies who were devoted to the collapse of their counterpart, and provide a more nuanced look at the relationship between the two most powerful nations to exist in the twentieth century.

Recommended Citation

Mundorff, Mitchell, "How Hostile was the Space Race? An Examination of Soviet-American Antagonism and Cooperation in Space" (2016). Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection . 19. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/honprog/19

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• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

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Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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