Before Satellites
After the second world war, a lot of tension between the United States of America and The Soviet Union started to build up. Since the U.S. had just invented the first atomic bomb, both countries sought out power over each other, and that led to conflict. There was also tension as a result of drastically different views on human rights, and other political ideas. because the two countries had very different values and stances on these things, the Cold War was born. The U.S. and the Soviet Union initially started the space race to achieve general superiority over the other.
Reaction to the Soviet Satellite
Reaction to the Soviet Satellite - A Preliminary Evaluation. The Eisenhover Library, www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/research/online-documents/sputnik/reaction.pdf.
In Arthur C Clarke’s 1945 magazine article “Extra Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations give Worldwide Coverage?,” he states that, “The service area of a television station, even on a very good site, is only about a hundred miles across”. This makes it apparent that to communicate long distances, you needed a lot of technology.
Extra-Terrestrial Relays by Arthur C. Clark
Clarke, Arthur C. “Extra-Terrestrial Relays.” Communication Satellite Systems Technology Progress in Astronautics and Rocketry, 1966, doi:10.1016/b978-1-4832-2716-0.50006-2.
“Little Boy.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Sept. 2017, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/atomic-bomb-history#&gid=ci023ad3afe00024ab&pid=hiroshima-bomb-gettyimages-3091366.
The atomic bomb "Little Boy"
In the article “The Space Race Begins” by Kathiaan M Kowalski, it states, “At first, the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union did not have any set goals. Each nation viewed space as a way to claim superiority over the other one.” This shows the reasoning behind starting The Space Race.
Every year National History Day frames students research within a historical theme. The theme is chosen for the broad application to world, national, or state history and its relevance to ancient history or to the more recent past. The 2019-2020 theme is Breaking Barriers in History.
How Satellite T.V Works
“Satellite Reception.” Http://Repairfaq.cis.upenn.edu/, repairfaq.cis.upenn.edu/sam/icets/satellte.htm.
Clarke also states that satellites could be used to broadcast radio waves and television, to transmit images, and that an interconnected system of satellites would allow the world to share information in half the time . This shows that the use of satellites in space would be revolutionary, and later became an important benefit from The Space Race. In all, The Space Race began to gain superiority over the other country, and it became a revolutionary era for communication.