- Joined
- Oct 5, 2009
- Messages
- 10,621
- Reaction score
- 2,104
- Location
- In your dreams...
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Independent
That single act trumped the Soviet achievement of sending the first man into space eight years earlier. But what might have happened if the Soviet Union had got to the Moon first?
....
BBC News - What if the Soviet Union had beaten the US to the Moon?[/url][/
Rocket envy | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine...China plans on building the world’s most powerful rocket, capable of launching a staggering 130 tons to orbit.
A few weeks ago, NASA announced the White House NASA budget request for FY 2012 (PDF), stating that $1.8 billion dollars be spent on designing a new rocket system to replace the Shuttle (and the canceled Constellation program). The lift capability specifically mentioned in that budget outline? "100 – 130 tons".
Let me make a few points here.
1) China, I think, is quite capable of following through on this. They’ve made a lot of progress in just a few years. They’ve put men in space, launched two successful missions to the Moon, plan on an unmanned lunar landing in the next few years, and an unmanned sample return mission after that. This new rocket — as powerful as a Saturn V — would be quite capable of landing humans on the Moon.
As pointed out earlier, that is a HYPOTHETICAL article.
Focus on facts, one that in the west people seem to think that the country with the greatest achievements in aeronautics = space race winner.
Fact: The soviets won the space race.
Eg) Using a hypothetical analogy as you seem to like them:
What if in a few years someone beats Michael Phelps in his 2008 records, does this mean they won the 2008 Beijing Olympics? NO, it only means they did better in a LATER event.
Same with the Soviets, the USSR made it to space FIRST, therefore the Soviets won the SPACE RACE.
A few more facts:
- The USSR got the space probe into space first (Sputnik).
- The USSR sent first a man into orbit around Earth (Yuri Gagarin)
- The USSR even got to the Moon first with an unmanned probe (Luna 2) this was in 1959 (10 years before the US made it to the moon)
- First probe to Venus
- First space station in 1971 (some on which still in use by the International community)
- Mars 2, first object to land in Mars
- First woman and first black person put in space by USSR
These however will help you measure who accomplished the most in aeronautics (which as I pointed out earlier, is debatable), however who won the space race is a fact, the first one to make it into space.
I'm one of 3 who marked "idk" because, quite simply, the space race is not over. Yeah, for 40 years we have been the only contenders in this competition, but asking "Who won the space race," is pretty much just like asking "Who won basketball?" There's a LOT of space out there. We, as a species, have gone to the moon a few times. As great an achievement as that was, it was only... well... one giant leap for mankind. If we're to survive the long run, we've got tocolonize the galaxy. One giant leap, check, we've still got a galaxy to cross. And if you think the rest of the world looks up to the night sky and thinks "Damn. America got that one," you're delusional.
Rocket envy | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
So yeah, we landed on the moon first. We walked around, took a joy ride, hit a few golf balls. That doesn't sound like a space race win to me.
*edit:
The Saturn V (pronounced "Saturn Five") was an American man-rated expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. A multistage liquid-fueled booster, NASA launched 13 Saturn Vs from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida with no loss of crew or payload. It remains the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever brought to operational status from a height, weight and payload standpoint.
Wikipedia: Saturn V
Thanks! Finally one who understands it.. No one won, a multi team tournament competition where a few teams scored a goal in their first matches. That is not a winner of the space race.
And...
Dont forget that NAZI technology accomplished all that for America, not American technology.
This is called trolling.Those are the facts. <---- Oh look I can bold words too!
According to you, now tell me do you have a Phd in history to back up this argument? This is why you're getting so many replies from people, because you are not unbiased. If you want to say the race space is not over yet, then I agree no body has yet won it.AGAIN. The cold war and the space race are one complete item. With the ending of the cold war, no more race was left. End of story.
Up above you said the cold war and space race was one, this shows how uninformed and biased you are, if this was true then the race would have been over at the collapse of the USSR not when the USA landed on the moon. POINT MADE, you're biased and not true to facts.The US crossed the finish line first by grabbing the Moon.
Again, the race was extended by some westerners, this is why I sent you the 1961 article, clearly stating the race had been won by the soviets. I will post the link again so you can see the date of the article.Yes it is a fact that it was the US even according to the BBC, lol.
This is called trolling.
According to you, now tell me do you have a Phd in history to back up this argument?
This is why you're getting so many replies from people, because you are not unbiased. If you want to say the race space is not over yet, then I agree no body has yet won it.
Up above you said the cold war and space race was one, this shows how uninformed and biased you are, if this was true then the race would have been over at the collapse of the USSR not when the USA landed on the moon. POINT MADE, you're biased and not true to facts.
Again, the race was extended by some westerners, this is why I sent you the 1961 article, clearly stating the race had been won by the soviets. I will post the link again so you can see the date of the article.
BBC ON THIS DAY | 12 | 1961: Soviets win space race
Biased answers, lacking in knowledge, and trolling only make arguments weaker.
You're doing a good job at helping everyone here vote. In my first post the ratio USA to USSR was 9:2, now its 52:42%
It was close from the begining. 9:2 :roll:
Well it seems that regardless of what you argue you cannot longer prove whether the USA has won the space race or not.
Who had the lead in the 60's, 70's, or 80's, highly debatable. However by the CURRENT poll ratio is about 1:1. Despite what the current poll ratio might tell, the sad truth is what it is: the USA has officially dropped out of the space race by closing its space program. The USA will now rely on Russian technology and facilities to do in space research.
So who won the space race? as of today, not the USA.
BBC News - Shuttle makes final touchdown to end US space programme
From article: "Nasa will rely on the Russians to ferry its people to and from the International Space Station (ISS)."
These are the unbiased facts.
In this case the USA moved the finish line after it failed to reach the original finish line first.
Russians made it to space first. On the race to space, Russians got there first. That doesn't sit well in the middle of the cold war, we can't let those godless commies win, so obviously the space race should be the first to the moon not the first to space.
Its like two brothers in a race to the house. They make a dash for it and for once the younger brother wins, grabbing the door and going in first before the older brother. Not wanting to let his younger brother win the older one yells out "Its the first one that gets to the couch in the living room!" and weaves his way through the house quicker than his younger sibling to land solidly on the couch going "Beat you again".
The younger brother obviously won the race to the house, so the older one switched the goal posts to allow him his own chance to "win" the race.
The other day, while driving my T/A some punk in a rice-burning buzz-bomb pulled up next to me at a light and threw me a few revs. I looked over, smiled at him and shook my head. He repeated his request; after the a third time, I finally gave him the 'go' sign.Well it seems that regardless of what you argue you cannot longer prove whether the USA has won the space race or not.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?