How the U.S/Soviet Space-Race Meant Avoiding Nuclear War
by Guest Contributor: Wyatt Connolly
In the period following WWII, the U.S and the Soviet Union engaged in the Cold War. This encompassed many matters they challenged each other over, including a competition to see which country could develop the most successful space technology. This became known as the space race. The Soviet Union was a communist government and the U.S. discouraged its citizens from admiring this collectivist ideology. The question of who could dominate in space had far more implications than just space travel. It also provided a format in which the two countries could compete without actually engaging in war. Ultimately, the U.S./Soviet Space Race of the 1950s and 1960s actually helped avoid nuclear war by refocusing the conflict toward superior technological abilities and national pride, rather than mutually assured destruction.
On October 4th, 1957, Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union. Sputnik was an unmanned satellite that went around the Earth in just ninety minutes. An article published the next day in the Soviet newspaper, Pravda, led to extensive attention which the Soviets used to their advantage. The perception by the U.S. was that the Soviet Union possessed technology that could be beneficial, but also dangerous. They had the advantage not just over the U.S, but the world. In a time when the ideals of Soviet communism versus American democracy were being debated internationally, the evidence that a communist country was more advanced had significant implications. It indicated that despite the negative connotations the U.S. had associated with communism, this form of government was producing technology that outpaced all others. Additionally, it made the Soviet Union an appealing ally for other countries. This elevation of status for the Soviet Union caused the U.S. to react quickly and expand the resources allocated to this venture.
The Space Race “was a way to prove unchallenged superiority to the entire world.”1 The U.S didn’t want communism and capitalism coexisting. Rather, they desired for communism to be contained and to fail. The thought process was that aggressively attacking communism directly could lead to nuclear war. By competing with the Soviet Union in a space race, the U.S. hoped to convince other countries that they were superior. It was believed that this strategy would prove that the U.S. was the greater of the two powers and would prevent communism from spreading and overtaking capitalism. It was a battle to “ensure the success of liberty.”2 In a time where the phrase “mutually assured destruction” was an actual possibility, the space race competition became a substitute for showing superiority without engaging in actual war.
On January 1st, 1958, the U.S. launched Explorer One, a satellite that entered orbit around the Earth. At the same time, meetings were being held to implement a new agency that would handle space exploration. At a meeting with the national security council with several advisors, President Eisenhower was given a list of four motivating factors that should serve as the foundation for further development of space, technology, and exploration. They were listed as: human curiosity, military consideration, U.S. prestige, and scientific observation and experiments. President Eisenhower was skeptical about developing space exploration for military use, writing “a civilian setting for the administration of space function will emphasize the concern of our Nation that outer space be devoted to peaceful and scientific purposes.”3
At the same meeting, experts cautioned that the Russians would likely be the first to get a man to the moon, as their technology was more advanced at that point. However, the U.S. believed they could be the first to land on Mars. Nevertheless, on the twenty ninth of July 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed officially creating NASA, a civilian agency dedicated to many goals of space exploration. The act specified that the work done pursuant to it be peaceful in application. Following this, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union began sending unmanned missions to fly by or attempt to land on the moon. They also both trained astronauts and cosmonauts in order to send them up into space.
In September 1959, Luna Two launched by the Soviets landed on the moon, becoming the first human object to reach land in outer space. The following month, Luna Three orbited the moon, making the Soviets the first to take pictures of the far side of the moon. These developments were aggravating to the U.S. as they tried to catch up and surpass Soviet technology. During his presidential campaign John F. Kennedy stated, “Control of space will be decided in the next decade. If the Soviets control space, they can control the earth, as in past centuries the nations that controlled the seas has dominated the continents.” The potential control of space by the Soviet Union made the U.S. vulnerable and threatened national security. As nuclear arms development expanded, a survey released in the mid-1950s revealed that many people in the U.S. thought they were more likely to die from an attack by the Soviets than from natural causes.4 If the Soviets won the space race, the implication was that these fears would be realized. Thus, the space race wasn’t just about being first, but ensuring that space technology would be used peacefully.
In a frustrating development for the U.S., on the twelfth of April 1961 the Russian, Yuri Gagarin, became the first man to go into space and orbit the Earth. Furthermore, he returned safely indicating that Soviet technology was advancing. Less than a month later, the American Alan Shepard also went into space. Twenty days later, President Kennedy gave the State of the Union Address in which he asked Congress to provide more funding for the space program. He also specified a timeline of getting a man to the moon within the decade.
On the twentieth of February 1962, John Glenn orbited the earth becoming the first American to do so. In 1964, the Soviet Union became the first to send a group into space. In 1965, the Soviet Union made the first successful space walk. Later in the year, the U.S did the same thing. It appeared that the Soviet Union was able to achieve advances in space exploration just ahead of the U.S. each time. At one point in the early-1960s, Nikita Kruzchev had stated that “Communism was now powerful enough to prevail over capitalism without open military conflict.”5 This statement seemed to be coming true. Though important to politicians, it may not have been as important to regular American citizens. “A 1965 Gallup poll found that only 39 percent of Americans thought being first to reach the moon was worth the cost.”6 The message that the space race was a means of avoiding nuclear war, taking down communism, and keeping Americans safe seems not to have been communicated clearly to the average U.S. citizen.
Significantly, in the beginning of 1966, Sergei Korolov died. He was the lead proponent of the Soviet space program and his replacement wasn’t as successful in promoting the program though it continued. In December of 1966, the UN General Assembly created the “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.” This treaty was signed by the U.S., the Soviet Union, and the U.K. The purpose of the treaty was to agree that space exploration would be carried out to benefit all countries, that places in outer space wouldn’t be claimed by any one country and that weapons wouldn’t be placed in outer space. Though this treaty formally put an end to the threat of outer space being used for negative purposes, The U.S. and the Soviet Union’s race to be the first on the moon continued. Kennedy had said in 1961 “It is a contest of will and purpose as well as force and violence-a battle for minds and souls as well as lives and territories.”7 At this point, the goal became more focused on ensuring capitalism bested communism in the minds and souls.
Space exploration continued throughout 1967 and 1968. Unfortunately, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union experienced tragedies during this time. On the twenty seventh of January 1967, three American astronauts died in a fire during testing of their spacecraft. On the twenty third of April 1967, a Soviet cosmonaut became the first to die during a space flight when his capsule slammed into the ground upon its return to earth. Despite these deaths, space exploration advanced. At the end of 1968, the U.S. completed the first successful mission to orbit the moon. The photographs taken during this mission were utilized in planning a moon landing. Finally, on the sixteenth of July 1969, Apollo Eleven from the U.S. began its objective of landing on the moon. Much to the Americans' elation, this mission resulted in the first people to walk on the moon. Americans are thus far the only people to have walked on the moon.
At least a billion people watched the moon landing from countries all over the world. The ability of the U.S. to land on the moon first was interpreted by many as an indication that they had superior technology and by implications superior military capabilities. In other words, though the Cold War continued, many Americans believed that their success in the space race translated into the ability to dominate the Soviet Union in other ways if needed. The perception was that the communists had lost.
According to the article “The Space Race and Peaceful Competition” the idea of the space race being a competition is false. The article states that the U.S. tried to work with the Soviet Union in the field of space exploration, but that the Soviet Union declined. Furthermore it states that the Presidents during this time period thought that if they cooperated on space exploration, relations would improve. The article cites a report from the Nixon Administration from 1970 titled “Cooperation Between the U.S. and U.S.S.R in Space Activities, Prospects, and Opportunities.” However, this thesis is an overgeneralization.
While the Nixon administration report does acknowledge potential benefits of cooperation, it also states “neither we nor they would be prepared at this stage to depend on the other for critical tasks.” The report also indicates that cooperation is difficult because “of the conflicting nature of our two systems.” It further recognizes that the Soviet space program is connected to their military and thus, utilizes more secrecy than the U.S. program. Furthermore, it mentions that the political differences between the two countries have been exaggerated to a degree that the Soviets are unlikely to cooperate. This seems like an acknowledgment of the capitalist versus communist doctrine that was part of the division in the first place. Lastly, because the report was written in 1970 after the moon landing, the perspective is more reflective than policy based. It lacks the intensity and immediacy of what was occurring in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
In reality, first hand sources from that era reveal that the space race received bipartisan support as a way to outdo the Soviet Union. When presenting to the House Space Committee in 1965 Homer E. Newell, a NASA administrator, stated that the space race with the Soviet Union was, “A game we can well afford to play in contrast to the arms race. In the game with Nuclear warhead there are no winners.”8 Furthermore, in the article “The Influence of Space Power upon History,” the author states that had the two superpowers cooperated neither program would have existed.9 In other words, it was the competition to outdo each other and show superiority that provided the motivation for space exploration. This is supported by the fact that NASA wasn’t created until after the Soviets launched Sputnik as well as quotes from John F. Kennedy when he was eliciting funding from Congress. Also, significantly, he points out that due to satellite imagery developed during this time, each country knew that nuclear threats were real and thus, avoided engaging in battle in that manner. Therefore, the technology developed because of the space race verified the threats of nuclear war and thus, helped avoid a battle on that front.
The Cold War was a multi-faceted clash between two countries that believed in the superiority of their ideologies. The ramifications of who could show their dominance impacted not only these countries, but influenced the governments of other nations and set a precedent for which superpower was the best. The negative consequences that would’ve occurred had there been a nuclear war were avoided by the focus on the race to space. This alternative and very public method of showing who had the best technology and advances allowed the U.S. and Soviet Union to compete for dominance without an actual battle. Ultimately, the technology developed during this time also led to the ability to verify nuclear capabilities, which further avoided war. Therefore, the space race was successful not only in the mission of getting a man to the moon, but also serving as a more peaceful substitute for the conflicts that otherwise existed during the Cold War.
[Wyatt Connolly is currently a student at Western Oregon University.]
Maddie Davis. n.d. “The Space Race.” Miller Center. https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/space-race.
David C. Arnold. 2022. ““We Choose to Go to the Moon”: An Analysis of a Cold War Means-Developing Strategy.” NDU Press. https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/casestudies/NWC-Case-Study_Arnold.pdf.
“Eisenhower and NASA (U.S.” 2023. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/eisenhower-and-nasa.htm
Karsten Werth. “A Surrogate for War—The U.S. Space Program in the 1960s.” Amerikastudien / American Studies 49, no. 4 (2004): 563–87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41158096.
Karsten Werth. “A Surrogate for War—The U.S. Space Program in the 1960s.” Amerikastudien / American Studies 49, no. 4 (2004): 563–87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41158096.
David C. Arnold. 2022. ““We Choose to Go to the Moon”: An Analysis of a Cold War Means-Developing Strategy.” NDU Press. https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/casestudies/NWC-Case-Study_Arnold.pdf.
Karsten Werth. “A Surrogate for War—The U.S. Space Program in the 1960s.” Amerikastudien / American Studies 49, no. 4 (2004): 563–87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41158096.
Karsten Werth. “A Surrogate for War—The U.S. Space Program in the 1960s.” Amerikastudien / American Studies 49, no. 4 (2004): 563–87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41158096.
John Shaw. n.d. “The Influence of Space Power Upon History (1944-1998).” Air University.
Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
357 Meeting of NSC. 1958. “Agenda Item 3. US Objectives in Space Exploration and Science (NSC Action No. 1859).” Eisenhower Presidential Library. https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/research/online-documents/sputnik/ 3-6-58.pdf.
National Archives and Records Administration. 1958. “National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (Unamended).” NASA History Division. https://history.nasa.gov/spaceact.html.
U.N. General Assembly, 21st Session. 1966. “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.” United Nations Digital Library. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/203169?ln=en
Secondary Sources:
Arnold, David C. 2022. ““We Choose to Go to the Moon”: An Analysis of a Cold War Means-Developing Strategy.” NDU Press. https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/casestudies/NWC-Case-Study_Arnold.pdf.
Davis, Maddie. n.d. “The Space Race.” Miller Center. Accessed July 18, 2023. https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/space-race.
“Eisenhower and NASA (U.S.” 2023. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/eisenhower-and-nasa.htm.
PBS. n.d. “The Space Race | American Experience | Official Site.” PBS. Accessed July 18, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/moon-space-race/.
Shaw, John. n.d. “The Influence of Space Power Upon History (1944-1998).” Air University. Accessed July 29, 2023. https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ/journals/Chronicles/shaw.pdf.
“The Space Race and Peaceful Competition ».” 2016. Richard Nixon Foundation. https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2016/10/space-race-peaceful-competition/.
Werth, Karsten. “A Surrogate for War—The U.S. Space Program in the 1960s.” Amerikastudien / American Studies 49, no. 4 (2004): 563–87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41158096.