The United States established the Project Mercury program with its original seven astronauts, a select group of daring Air Force test pilots. Through the 1950s the United States and Russia increasingly focused on manned space flight. The following month Explorer 1 blasted successfully into orbit. The United States attempted an orbiting satellite launch in December 1957, but the Vanguard missile embarrassingly exploded on lift-off. claim to scientific superiority was shaken. Not only did Americans feel vulnerable to direct foreign attack but the U.S. Suddenly, the "space race" was on and the United States, in desperation, greatly accelerated its space program. A second Russian satellite went up the following month carrying a dog. However, the Soviet Union, known to excel in large missile development, shocked the United States when it became the first nation to place a satellite, Sputnik 1, in orbit around Earth in October 1957. Air Force, missile testing began at Florida's Cape Canaveral launch facilities in the early 1950s. The resulting arms race between the two "superpowers" included the development and stockpiling of thermonuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The United States and Russia had become engaged in an intense military global rivalry, the Cold War. Upon Germany'sĭefeat and the end of the war, the United States recruited German rocket scientists, including Wernher von Braun (1912 –1977), to help begin the U.S. During World War II (1939 –1945) Germany developed the world's first long-range guided missiles, firing warheads into English cities.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |