How Did the United States Take the Lead in the ‘Space Race?’

October 26, 2022

Exploration for Political Purposes – Part 1

By Bob Granath

One of the most memorable periods of the 20th Century is known as the “Space Race” between the United States and the Soviet Union. While the Russians got off to a fast start with many impressive firsts, Americans quickly pulled ahead and met the goal of landing humans on the Moon. But, historians do not universally agree on when the competition actually began and at what point NASA took the lead.

The period was a time of fundamental change in America and the world. Extensive highway systems allowed families to travel as never before and television brought the world into homes. The Civil Rights movement led to legislation to remove barriers due to race. The arrival of The Beatles resulted in new styles in music and fashion, and the war in Vietnam gave rise to widespread protests. However, the world often was brought together as millions watched fellow humans venture “where no one had gone before.”

The Space Race of the 1950s and 1960s was rooted in the Cold War. While America’s response to the Soviet’s early lead was politically motivated, it helped develop modern technology vital in the world today.

“Without the space program, our economy would be hurled 50 years into the past,” said Michio Kaku, author and professor of theoretical physics at the City College of New York. “Think of it for a moment. The GPS (Global Positioning System), weather satellites, telecommunications, the internet.”

When did the Space Race begin?

The missile race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union began in the closing stages of World War II. A team of rocket scientists and engineers were working for the German army at their rocket center in Peenemünde on the coast of the Baltic Sea. They developed the world’s first ballistic missile – what they called the A-4 for Aggregate-4. The Nazi propaganda ministry renamed the rocket V-2 for “Vengeance Weapon-2.” In addition to being a weapon, the rocket was the first human-made object to reach 60 miles high, the threshold of outer space.

Members of the world’s foremost rocket team are seen after surrendering to U.S. troops in Bavaria, Germany on May 2, 1945. From the left are U.S. Counterintelligence Corps agent Charles Stewart; Dr. Herbert Axster, chief of staff at Peenemünde; Dieter Huzel, propulsion engineer, Dr. Wernher von Braun, technical director at Peenemünde; Wernher's younger brother, Magnus von Braun, a chemical engineer; and Hans Lindenberg, a combustion chamber engineer. Von Braun’s arm was broken in March when his car crashed after slipping off an icy mountain road. — Members of the world’s foremost rocket team are seen after surrendering to U.S. troops in Bavaria, Germany on May 2, 1945. From the left are U.S. Counterintelligence Corps agent Charles Stewart; Dr. Herbert Axster, chief of staff at Peenemünde; Dieter Huzel, propulsion engineer, Dr. Wernher von Braun, technical director at Peenemünde; Wernher’s younger brother, Magnus von Braun, a chemical engineer; and Hans Lindenberg, a combustion chamber engineer. Von Braun’s arm was broken in March when his car crashed after slipping off an icy mountain road. Photo credit: U.S. Army

Government officials in America and Russia hoped to capture, not only parts and plans for the missiles, they wanted the brainpower of the world’s foremost rocket experts. Most members of the rocket team were more interested in exploring space than developing weapons of war. Their technical director was Dr. Wernher von Braun who dreamed of human spaceflight from his youth. He and other rocket specialists wanted to take their skills to U.S. Army forces once the Americans advanced close enough to safely do so.

Von Braun came to America in 1945 with 115 members of his team and 100 of their rockets. They conducted upper atmospheric research and experiments while based at Fort Bliss, Texas and launched the V-2s from the White Sands Missile Range just over the state line in New Mexico.

*The Soviet Union’s Chief Designer, Sergei Korolev, at the Kapustin Yar firing range in 1953. Photo credit: Roscosmos*

One of the founding fathers of the Soviet and Russian space program, Boris Chertok, wrote of their effort to capture the German rocket experts in his 1999 memoir, Rockets and People: Hot Days of the Cold War, re-published in 2009 by the NASA History Division.

“The root causes of the confrontation between the two superpowers at the beginning of the Cold War included the struggle to get the upper hand in atomic bomb production and the search to acquire the German missile legacy,” he said.

The members of the V-2 group who remained at Peenemünde were in the Soviet occupation zone that became East Germany. Many eventually went to work for the Russian missile program led by Chief Designer Sergei Krolev. However, in the middle of the night of Oct. 22, 1946, more than 175 of the German engineers and their families were abruptly ordered by Russian military troops that they were to immediately to board trains for a long ride to Moscow.

While based at Ft. Bliss, Texas, members of the German rocket team conducted upper atmospheric research launching V-2s from the White Sands Missile Range. On Feb. 24, 1949, a V-2 with a U.S. Army WAC Corporal second stage reached what was then a record altitude of 250 miles. Photo credit: U.S. Army

Most of the German rocket experts eventually were sent to Gorodom Island, 150 miles northwest of the Russian capital. When their usefulness to the Soviets ended, most were returned to East Germany in June 1952.

As the Cold War with the Soviet Union began to heat up, the U.S. military needed larger missiles, traveling faster and farther. Von Braun and his rocket team moved in 1950 from Ft. Bliss to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. They became part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) under the command of Maj. Gen. Holger Toftoy. They soon developed America’s first large ballistic missile, the Redstone.

Additionally, a launch site on the east coast was needed. Operating from Cape Canaveral, Florida, rockets would avoid traveling over populated areas by launching over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. At the new location, the group would operate from under the leadership of von Braun’s colleague, Dr. Kurt Debus, the group’s Launch Operations director.

Chertok, a Russian rocket and spacecraft control systems designer, noted that while long-range ballistic missiles were produced as a weapon, ”they proved to be an effective means for waging the Cold War and deterring it from becoming a “hot war.”

Scientific Satellites

During the early 1950s, Wernher von Braun wrote magazine articles on space exploration and appeared in episodes of Walt Disney’s popular television show, Disneyland. — *During the early 1950s, Wernher von Braun wrote magazine articles on space exploration and appeared in episodes of Walt Disney’s popular television show,* Disneyland. *Photo credit: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center*

During speeches in the early 1950s, von Braun, by then chief of Guided Missile Development Operations for ABMA, saw a competition coming. He pushed for an effort to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite. He warned that Russia’s advanced rocketry might allow the Soviet Union to gain an advantage in a race for missile supremacy over the Free World.

“It is a contest (with the Soviets) to get a satellite into orbit, and we are way ahead in rocket development,” he said.

On July 29, 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced plans to orbit a satellite as part of International Geophysical Year, a scientific collaboration of 67 nations taking place from July 1, 1957, to Dec. 31, 1958. Both the U.S. and Soviet Union announced that their participation would include launching scientific satellites to orbit the Earth.

While Eisenhower favored the idea of launching a satellite, he was concerned about the militarization of outer space. He supported using a new, untried research rocket called Vanguard, to launch a satellite rather than the reliable Redstone launch vehicle.

On Oct. 4, 1957, Americans were stunned when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first satellite. A full-scale mockup of the Sputnik satellite is seen on display in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. — On Oct. 4, 1957, Americans were stunned when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first satellite. A full-scale mock-up of the Sputnik satellite is seen on display in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. Photo credit: NASA

“This is not a design contest,” von Braun protested. “This is a Cold War tool.”

However, some in the U.S. government were unconvinced that a space race was possible, as the Russians were perceived as technologically primitive.

“The Soviets couldn’t possibly launch a missile or a satellite,” Sen. Allen Joseph Ellender (D-La.) argued during a 1956 Senate hearing.

As early as Sept. 20, 1956, an American satellite could have been placed in orbit. A modified version of the Redstone, called a Jupiter-C, was capable of doing that and was ready to lift off from Cape Canaveral. However, ABMA commander, Maj. Gen. John B. Medaris, was ordered by officials at the Department of Defense “not to even accidentally place a satellite in orbit.” Therefore, the fourth stage of the test vehicle was not live when it was launched.

Medaris’ orders from the Pentagon were clear.

“Recent news stores which have described certain projects as ‘spaceflight projects,’ have resulted in unfavorable reactions at the Department of Defense and Congressional levels,” the directive stated. “In any speeches or public releases planned by you or your staff, avoid the mention or discussion of space, space technology and space vehicles.”

The illustration on the left shows the evolution of Soviet space launch vehicles based on the R-7. From the left are the SS-6 ICBM, the launch vehicles for Sputnik, Vostok, Voskhod and the Soyuz. On the right, a Soyuz rocket is rolled to a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 9, 2018 for the Soyuz MS-10 mission. While it is impressive, it uses brute force rather than high technology. It has a core stage with four engines and four similar strap-on boosters totaling 20 engines firing at liftoff. Photo credit: NASA

*The first attempt to launch an American satellite failed in a spectacular launch pad explosion of the Vanguard rocket on Dec. 6, 1957. Photo credit: U.S. Navy*

However, von Braun continued to sound the warning.

“If we continue at this leisurely pace, we will have to pass Russian customs when we land on the Moon,” he said in frustration.

As the debate in Washington, DC, continued, Soviet scientists and engineers continued their work. On Oct. 4, 1957, Americans were stunned when Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, began circling the Earth ushering in the Space Age – and in the minds of many – the Space Race. By all appearances, the United States was in a catch-up mode.

The R-7 rocket, developed by Korolev and his engineers, launched the 23-inch diameter, 184-pound Sputnik. It was a launch vehicle derived from the SS-6 nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM. Many Americans now were concerned that if the Russians could orbit a satellite over their heads, they can put a nuclear warhead in their backyards.

The United States’ first satellite, Explorer 1, is launched by a Jupiter C rocket on Jan. 31, 1958. Explorer 1 confirmed existence of high-radiation bands above the Earth’s atmosphere. — The United States’ first satellite, Explorer 1, is launched by a Jupiter-C rocket on Jan. 31, 1958. Explorer 1 confirmed existence of high-radiation bands above the Earth’s atmosphere. Photo credit: NASA

“It spooked us to no end,” said Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, a Princeton University astrophysicist. “Russia had the new high ground.”

In the launch pad blockhouse at Cape Canaveral, ABMA commander, Maj. Gen. John B. Medaris, waits trough tense moments for confirmation that Explorer 1 was successfully in orbit. Photo credit: U.S. Army

When the first attempt to launch a grapefruit-size satellite with the Vanguard rocket failed in a spectacular launch pad explosion, von Braun’s Jupiter-C was given an opportunity. On the evening of Jan. 31, 1958, the United States answered with its first satellite, Explorer 1.

Eisenhower was awakened in the pre-dawn hours with the report that the 80-inch long, 30-pound satellite was successfully in orbit. He was glad to hear the good news, but cautioned, “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

It was a big deal.

After singing legislation that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, center, speaks with the agency’s first deputy administrator, Dr. Hugh Dryden, left, and Dr. Keith Glennan, NASA's first administrator. — After singing legislation that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, center, speaks with the agency’s first deputy administrator, Dr. Hugh Dryden, left, and Dr. Keith Glennan, NASA’s first administrator. Photo credit: NASA

After the satellite was confirmed to be in orbit, scores of journalists gathered for a news conference at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC. Panelists included von Braun, Dr. William Pickering, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, and Dr. James Van Allen, the satellite’s principal investigator and professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa.

“We have firmly established our foothold in space,” von Braun said. “We will never give it up.”

Later in 1958, Eisenhower asked Congress to consolidate all civilian space activity under a new government agency. On July 16, 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act creating NASA — the National Aeronautics and Space Administration — out of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

An Ambitious Goal

*Upon arrival at the Baikonur Cosmodrome’s Launch Pad 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is greeted by Marshal Kirill Moskalenko, center, and Chief Designer Sergei Korolev. Photo credit: Mil.ru*

When John F. Kennedy became president in 1961, the Cold War with the Soviet Union soon presented him with two early challenges. Americans were surprised again on April 12, 1961 as cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin launched aboard a spacecraft named Vostok – Russian for East. He orbited the Earth once in 108 minutes. In a news conference soon after Gagarin’s flight, Kennedy pointed out that it would be “some time” before the U.S. could match the Soviet technology.

With NASA astronaut Alan Shepard aboard, America’s first piloted spaceflight is launched from Cape Canaveral on a Redstone rocket on May 5, 1961. — *With NASA astronaut Alan Shepard aboard, America’s first piloted spaceflight is launched on a Redstone rocket on May 5, 1961. Photo credit: NASA*

“The news will be worse before it gets better,” he said.

Less than a week later, the Bay of Pigs fiasco resulted in another embarrassment to the new administration. The invasion was a failed landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba between April 17 and 20, 1961 by Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel Castro’s Soviet-supported communist regime. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency covertly financed the operation planned during the Eisenhower administration.

In the meantime, Kennedy tasked Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, NASA Administrator James Webb and other officials to propose a space goal in which the United States had a reasonable chance to beat the Russians.

There were significant technological differences between the Vostok and Mercury spacecraft. This illustration depicts how Alan Shepard and the other Mercury astronauts could control the pitch, yaw and roll orientation of their capsule. Photo credit: NASA

Dr. Bill Barry was NASA’s chief historian from 2010 to 2020. — *Dr. Bill Barry* *was NASA’s chief* *historian from 2010 to 2020. Photo credit: NASA*

On May 5, 1961, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space aboard Mercury-3. There were significant technological differences between the Vostok and Mercury. When Gagarin flew in his spacecraft, he only had the ability to monitor rudimentary instruments and look out the window. Retrofire, to begin reentry and the trip home, was his only control of the spacecraft.

This is the memo President John F. Kennedy sent to Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, requesting he, NASA Administrator James Webb and other officials propose a space goal in which the United States had a “reasonable chance to beat the Soviets.” Photo credit: NASA

Although Shepard’s flight was only a 15-minute suborbital mission, the more advanced technology allowed the astronaut to control the pitch, yaw and roll orientation of his Freedom 7 capsule.

While Shepard did not orbit the Earth like Gagarin, his short flight down the Atlantic Missile Range was a success and Kennedy took full advantage. Just three weeks after, Kennedy presented a bold proposal to a special joint session of Congress announcing an ambitious goal that inspired the nation and the world.

“I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth,” he said.

The president and NASA officials believed that landing on the Moon would be a technological achievement that could erase the Soviet’s head start. Additionally, it included a political objective providing the U.S. an opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of democracy over communism.

President Jon F. Kennedy confers with Dr. Wernher von Braun at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on May 19, 1963. — *President Jon F. Kennedy, left, confers with Dr. Wernher von Braun at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on May 19, 1963. Photo credit: NASA*

Dr. Bill Barry, NASA’s now retired chief historian, believes Kennedy had more than a political problem with the Soviets.

“It was a problem for the Western world,” he said during a NASA podcast in 2020. “The Soviets were being very successful in space. They had extremely effective engineers and a very nimble team. And they made it look like they were way ahead of the United States technologically.”

An expert on the Soviet/Russian space program, Barry earned his doctorate from Oxford University in England with a dissertation on Russian missile design bureaus and manned space flight during the 1960s.

NASA’s Gene Kranz believes that President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to land a man on the Moon “generated enthusiasm and passion within the American public.” He is seen at his flight director’s console in the Mission Control Center in Houston during a May 30, 1965 simulation for the Gemini IV mission. — *NASA’s Gene Kranz is at his flight director’s console in the Mission Control Center in Houston during a May 30, 1965 simulation for the Gemini IV mission. Photo credit: NASA*

Kennedy not only set a goal for the United States, at the same time he challenged the Soviet Union choosing the “finish line” and placing both sides together at a new starting line. If the Space Race was unofficial up to this point, it now was on.

Gene Kranz, best known as an Apollo flight director, saw lasting benefits for the project to land humans on the Moon.

“We were challenged to beat the Russians to the Moon,” he said. “The initial challenge was one that was geo-political. But, it also had the economic benefit. It basically generated enthusiasm and passion within the American public.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a two-part series on the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. While the goal was ultimately political, the result was technology that shaped today’s world. On Nov. 28, 2022, read part 2 about how the Americans pulled ahead and landed the first humans on the Moon.