Cold War Space Research Articles

The American and Soviet Cold War Space Programs

Although the Soviet Union met with initial success at the outset of the Cold War space race, it was the U.S. that achieved ultimate success over the course of the competition, as the U.S. matched and exceeded all Soviet space feats, possessed far more sophisticated applications satellites, and landed men on the moon numerous times in the face of a Soviet inability to do the same. There are many explanations for the ultimate success of the U.S. in the space race, which is the dependent variable, but the most significant of these explanations can be narrowed to three independent variables. The three independent variables determining the ultimate success of the U.S. space program in comparison to the Soviet Union space program are the focuses of the space programs; the economic philosophies of the two states; and a penchant for excessive secrecy, or lack thereof, in their respective scientific communities.

From Gagarin to Armageddon: Soviet-American Relations in the Cold War Space Epic

From Gagarin to Armageddon: Soviet-American Relations in the Cold War Space Epic