The Space Race - Elie Weinstein

The tense Cold War, like a dormant volcano waiting to explode, has had an everlasting impact on the world due to the Space Race. Had it not been for Soviet and American efforts to expand their rule out of our atmosphere, the world would be radically different than it is today.

Most orbital expeditions and missions to space are for scientific use. Satellites have been used to map the Earth, and a multitude of satellites are used for communication, tv broadcasting, and the internet. The intentions of the Space Race, however, were purely for military purposes. Both the United States and U.S.S.R. were keen to develop satellites and missions that sent rockets into orbit, simply because the technology and engineering wonders could be implemented in the building and use of long range weapons––especially nuclear weapons.

The Soviets were the first to successfully achieve such a mission, with the launch of a small satellite known as Sputnik. According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the success of this mission was due to both parties’ war tactics. Russia had the upper hand in its space program because it had already implemented rocket technology into its missiles during the Cold War, while America was still developing bombs to be dropped from aircraft.

Russia’s pioneering in space exploration has affected nearly everyone in the world forever. Satellites have many purposes, such as in the areas of navigation, television, internet, and the military. It has had a great impact in these fields, however the implementation of rocketry technology and engineering for military use has resulted in the construction of systems that are capable of killing millions of people as well as animals and plants within no time.

Although, rocketry and space exploration has resulted in weapons of mass destruction, I fully support space exploration and wish for it to continue. I do not regret the Space Race (were it in my hands) because I fell that the said weapons are in good hands (except for Pakistan and Iran). I don’t think that humans should live on other planets because we are Earthlings. I cannot imagine permanently living indoors or with an oxygen tank, or seeing no other life form. We are made to live on Earth; trying to populate another planet would just create financial, political, environmental, and societal problems. The only reason I see fit for us to move to another planet or the moon were if a giant meteor was to strike us.