Who Won the Space Race? U.S.A vs USSR & The Moon landing

So I thought I would share what I found out, lo que a veriway, on today's episode. So let's get started. You are listening to the 30th episode of English with Dane. Hid it. So let's talk space race. People have kind of reached a consensus that the space race started in 1955. And they say this because in that year, the Soviet Union and the United States of America both announced their plans to put an artificial satellite into Earth's orbit. Both sides would launch Lanzarian satellites into space.

Not immediately, but within dentro de two to three years. They literally made their announcements three or four days apart. The United States made this announcement first on the 29th of July, and then the Soviet Union made their announcement on the 2nd of August. But before we start talking about the events that took place or that happened, we need some context. So let's rewind to the Second World War. So it's 1945 and the Second World War is ending.

Hitler and the German armies have been defeated, and now the victors, Los Vencedores, have to decide what happens next. Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt meet up in Yalta in southern Ukraine for the famous Yalta Conference, also known as the Crimean Conference, and they decide a few things. Of course, the unconditional surrender of Germany, but also how to divide it. To the victor go the spoils.

Spoils means stolen goods, but to the victor go the spoils is a proverb meaning that the winner gets the reward, let's say. So part of these spoils of war, Botin de Guerra, were the scientists that worked for the Nazis, particularly in the aeronautical sector. The reason this is important is because the Nazis were really, really good at building rockets. Better than the Americans and better than the Soviets.

Some of these rocket scientists went to the United States and some went to the Soviet Union, and they led, lideraron, their respective space programs. The most famous of these rocket scientists and engineers was Werner von Braun, who was the leading figure and pioneer in the development of rocket technology. So now you had two new distinct sides, those bandos, and now that they had defeated their common enemy, their attention shifted towards each other.

The post-World War II picture or panorama is extremely different from the pre-war picture. This time there were nuclear weapons to take into account. After successfully developing these weapons, the United States dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan in 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 6th and 9th of August, respectively, killing around 120,000 people and affecting another 150,000. This event marked the end of the Second World War, after Japan announced its surrender.

However, Russia also successfully developed a nuclear bomb too. American experts thought or predicted that Russia would develop it in the mid-1950s, but they did it in 1949, so four years after the United States. So you have these two world powers, two rivals trying to assert their dominance, equipped with this new technology, right? The most destructive weapons in the history of humanity. And now they had the final piece of the puzzle.

They had the best rocket scientists and engineers in the world who had spent the last few years perfecting their skills during the war. This is incredibly important because it is what the Cold War was all about. Right? Nuclear bombs don't make you scary. What makes you scary is the ability to take that nuclear bomb, put it on a rocket, and decide exactly where you want this rocket to land with the push of a button anywhere in the world at any time. That's what makes you scary.

It was obvious to both sides, right, to the United States and to the Soviet Union, that this was the next frontier in terms of military superiority as well as scientific and technological development. These two are often linked together, right? Having the best technology makes you, they a more dangerous enemy. So the race was about achieving this goal first. Who would be able to, quien sería capaz de develop the technology to allow you to destroy any city in the world by pushing a button, right?

The ultimate weapon, El Arma Definitiva. Remember, we don't say weapon, we say weapon. So to further understand this, we need to understand the technology they had to develop que tenían que desarrollar. So let's go back to the scientists for a second. So it turns out, resulta que it's not easy to build a rocket that can take a nuclear bomb anywhere in the world. The Nazis had really good rockets, like the famous V 2 rocket, which was the first long range ballistic missile in the world.

It was also the first man-made object to travel to space. It took a few pictures as well, and they became the first pictures of the Earth taken from space. Anyway, this was the key, la clave. It is extremely difficult to make a rocket travel halfway across the world like an airplane would. So in order to travel long distances, these rockets would have to travel to space and then re-enter the Earth's atmosphere to strike or to hit their targets.

These missiles, called intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, are launched at a very steep angle or a very long parabola, and they were developed in the late 50s, just after the announcements that the Soviet Union and the United States made about sending satellites to space. So this is where it all ties in. This is where we can put everything together. The idea that you could get a satellite into orbit also meant that you could put a weapon into space.

And so began the race to develop better and more powerful ICBMs, ones that could travel enormous distances easily and reliably. So who was faster? Who did what? Who won the space race? Let's take a look at some of the most important and defining moments, some milestones as we call them. So we said that the space race began in 1955, right, with both announcements.

Then two years later, in October of 1957, the Soviet Union steps ahead of the United States and captures the attention of the world by launching the first ever satellite into Earth's orbit. A small satellite called Sputnik, the size of a beach ball, weighing around 84 kilos and with a diameter of around 60 centimeters. Apparently, they originally wanted to send something that weighed around one and a half tons, to make sure, that it would be bigger than anything the Americans sent.

But that was way too difficult, so instead they sent Sputnik. Before we continue though, in 1957 something else happened that isn't talked about as much. The Soviet Union also achieved something else. They sent up Leica, a dog who became the first animal to orbit the Earth. But sadly, also became the first animal to die in orbit. So sad stuff. Looking back, it kind of feels a little bit unnecessary. But the United States also sent an animal to space, by the way. But it was just for a second.

It was a Rhesus monkey called Albert. They sent it up in a V-2 rocket, I think in 1948 or 49, and it got to space, but then the parachute didn't work and the monkey died, unfortunately. But anyway, let's keep going. So Sputnik captures the attention of the world, but that's just the beginning. In 1960, the US had elections, and John F. Kennedy ran for president. And a big part of his campaign was about promising to overtake or to pass the Soviet Union in the space race.

He defeated Nixon, who was the president at the time, and became the 35th president of the United States. So now everyone is expecting something big, something to beat the Soviets. But then, less than one year later, the Soviet Union once again, otra vez, takes a huge step ahead of the United States and sends Yuri Gagarin into space. He completes an orbit of Earth inside the Vostok 1 and after landing becomes a hero, but not only in the Soviet Union, but all around the world.

Another disaster for the Americans. Now they are really falling behind. Then in 1962, in February, the United States finally catches up, Remontan, and they send astronaut John Glenn, who orbits the Earth successfully. Then later that year, John F. Kennedy gives the famous speech about going to the moon, where he promises that before the decade is over, they will put a man on the moon. Here's a clip from that speech that I found.

Then finally, in the year 1969, aboard the Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins reach the moon. In an event televised all around the world and watched by over 550 million people, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon. A moment in which he uttered or said the famous words. People remember where they were donde estaban when they saw it or heard it or became aware of it. The question is, does this mean they won?

Did the United States win the space race by putting a human on the moon and returning them safely back to Earth? Where do we stop counting? Also, in 1959, the Soviet Union sent Luna II to the moon and it became the first human artifact to reach the moon. So technically they got there first, right? In 1970, they sent a remote-controlled vehicle to the moon, I believe, too. But I suppose the magnitude of the Apollo 11 mission and people actually stepping foot on the moon trumps everything, right?

It beats everything. It's like a mic drop, right? When there's a rap battle, una batalla de rayos, and somebody says something incredible and they drop the microphone and people go crazy, and then it's just kind of over. It's finished. It was like that. So I guess the United States won, but I don't know. The space race is still going on today, but in a different way. Countries are researching mining asteroids for precious metals and other crazy science fiction type stuff.

And I'm sure people are planning all sorts of crazy things that seemed impossible 10 or 15 years ago. I think it's a really exciting field, and I could go on about this all day, so I'm gonna stop. As always, let me know what you think, if you agree or disagree, if you think I left out or missed something important. Write to me on Instagram and Twitter at Englishwith Dane, and don't forget to subscribe and leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.

Support the show by sharing it with anyone who you think would enjoy it. Okay, till next time. Bye-bye.