Mrs. Slifka
English
3 May, 2013
The Race to Space- Ready, Set, Go! Today, technology growth is incredible, and advancements occur at a rapid rate. For Americans to adapt to new technology of CD’s from cassette tapes, it only took eighteen months. However, to convert from CD’s to MP3 technology, it only took an astonishing three months. What caused us to be able to develop this new technology so quickly? The Space Race can easily be named as a very important reason because it was the first time in history that countries were having a “technology war”, better known as the cold war. Without it, this world would not be the same. The cold war may not have occurred, however, without the influence of WWll’s outcome. During World War Two (WWll), Russia, Britain, and the United States of America (U.S.A.) were the three main forces known as the Allied Forces battling against the Axis Powers: Germany, Japan, and Italy. After the Allies’ victory, American ties with Russia unraveled, and the two great nations raced into what is known as the cold war.
This cold war was “the intense rivalry that developed after WWll between groups of communist and noncommunist nations” (Donoghue 1), mainly the United States of America and The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, Soviet Union, Russia). Because of nuclear knowledge and new technology developed in WWll, there was a rapid growth to develop these advancements. German Rocket Scientists were recruited to help advance both countries’ space
Censoni 2 technology. By the 1950s, technology was advanced far enough that Space travel was a reality (McNesse 4). The soviets, as America would soon realize, understood the potential of this technology. In 1951, The FBI received intelligence that German rocket scientists in America were being recruited by the Soviets (Kenny 4). As the early 1950s ended, the fear of the spread of communism rose not only in politicians