Normally, the United States would not have wanted to be partners with the Soviet Union.. The war was called a “cold” war because it did not “heat up” with actual fighting between the Uni
Trang 1Scott Foresman Social Studies
Nonfi ction Cause and Effect • Sidebars
• Captions
ISBN 0-328-14917-9
ì<(sk$m)=bejbhj< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U
by Maureen Blaney Flietner
The Cold War
and the
Space Race
Fascinating Facts
• Two dogs, Belka and Strelka, were aboard the Soviets’
Sputnik 5 in 1960 They returned unharmed after a day in
orbit Strelka later gave birth to six healthy puppies
One puppy was given as a gift to President Kennedy
• Depending on where you are on Earth, where the spacecraft
is, and the time of day, you can see the International Space
Station without a telescope
• Much of the Internet began as a Cold War project to
create a communication system that could survive a
nuclear attack
Scott Foresman Social Studies
Nonfi ction Cause and Effect • Sidebars
• Captions
ISBN 0-328-14917-9
ì<(sk$m)=bejbhj< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U
by Maureen Blaney Flietner
The Cold War
and the
Space Race
Fascinating Facts
• Two dogs, Belka and Strelka, were aboard the Soviets’
Sputnik 5 in 1960 They returned unharmed after a day in
orbit Strelka later gave birth to six healthy puppies
One puppy was given as a gift to President Kennedy
• Depending on where you are on Earth, where the spacecraft
is, and the time of day, you can see the International Space
Station without a telescope
• Much of the Internet began as a Cold War project to
create a communication system that could survive a
nuclear attack
Trang 2Write to It!
Which country do you think was better suited to take part in the arms race? Which country do you think was most able to win the space race? Write an essay comparing the two countries and the two races they took part in
Write your essay on a separate sheet of paper.
ISBN: 0-328-14917-9
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc
All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America This publication is protected
by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited
reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise For information regarding
permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,
Glenview, Illinois 60025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
Vocabulary
communism ideology propaganda arms race satellite space race
In this book you will read about two powerful countries
with very different sets of beliefs Their distrust of each
other led them into a race to be the first to reach the
Moon The space race has ended, but the exploration of
space has just begun
Photographs
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.
Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd) Opener: ©Bettmann/Corbis
2 ©Getty Images
3 ©Corbis
4 ©Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
6 ©Mark Wade
7 ©Mark Wade
8 ©Bettmann/Corbis
10 ©Novosti/Photo Researchers, Inc.
11 ©Corbis
13 ©NASA Human Space Flight Gallery
14 (CR) ©Stephen Marks/Getty Images, (B) ©Bob Winsett/Index Stock Imagery, (CL) ©Royalty-Free/Corbis
15 (T, B) ©Getty Images
Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois • Parsippany, New Jersey • New York, New York Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts • Duluth, Georgia • Glenview, Illinois Coppell, Texas • Sacramento, California • Mesa, Arizona
by Maureen Blaney Flietner
The Cold War
and the
Space Race
Trang 3Fighting Against Common Enemies
To defeat their enemies in World War II, the United States and
Great Britain fought on the same side as the Soviet Union Normally,
the United States would not have wanted to be partners with the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union was a large and powerful country
that operated under communism and had a cruel leader named
Joseph Stalin Communism is a political and economic system
that gives people little freedom and allows the government to own
all the businesses and the land This ideology is very different from
that of the United States People in the United States believe in
many freedoms and that individuals can own land and businesses
Many powerful weapons were used during World War II
Germany had made some of these weapons The Americans and
Soviets wanted to learn about them After the war ended, they rushed
in to find parts of weapons or even people who could tell them about
the weapons
Both the Americans and the Soviets studied a German missile
called the V-1, or “buzz bomb.” The V-1 was called a buzz
bomb because it made a buzzing sound while it flew It was
the world’s first cruise missile, or flying bomb A cruise missile
has wings Its engine needs air, so it cannot operate outside the
atmosphere A cruise missile guides itself to its target
The Americans and Soviets were very interested in learning how German missiles, such as the V-1, worked
3
The Germans had another new weapon called a V-2 that was a ballistic missile
As a ballistic missile, it was powered for a short time by its own engine and then it fell—because of gravity—to its target It was a powerful weapon that could send one ton of explosives more than
150 miles in five minutes
It is rocket science!
A rocket is a type of engine that moves It works by burning fuel, which makes exhaust gases As the exhaust gases come out of the engine, they push the rocket or engine in the opposite direction
Here is a way to demonstrate it If you blow up a balloon and let it go, the air comes out of the back of the balloon and the balloon moves forward.
A rocket is a missile when it carries a weapon When a missile
is ballistic, its engine sends it into the sky Instruments guide the missile After it reaches the sky and travels its flight path, its engine turns off Then it falls—because of gravity—until it reaches its target.
A rocket is a launch vehicle when it carries something such as
a spacecraft into space.
A captured V-2 missile was tested at White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico, in the late 1940s
Trang 4When the war ended, the United States wanted to help its allies
and even its former enemies rebuild The United States wanted these
countries to be strong and free The Soviet Union, however, was
worried Germany had attacked it before, and the Soviet Union
thought it might be attacked again The Soviet Union also worried
that if any country near it became strong, it might attack the Soviet
Union The Soviet Union decided to force all the countries it
occupied after the war to accept communism so the Soviet Union
could control them all
Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, wanted to control all of Berlin
However, the United States and its allies controlled the western
part of the city Stalin set up a blockade so that no one could use the
roads or the trains to get in or out of Berlin Stalin thought the
blockade would control the whole city
5
The Americans did not want communism to spread, so they and their allies began an airlift and flew supplies into West Berlin
Finally, Stalin ended the blockade It had not worked, and West Berlin stayed free
The Soviet blockade had upset the United States It also did not like how the Soviet Union was spreading communism to other countries The United States and its allies set up a group called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Its members would help each other if the Soviet Union attacked any of them
When World War II ended, another war—called the Cold War—
started On one side was the United States and on the other side was the Soviet Union The two most powerful countries in the world were enemies The war was called a “cold” war because it did not
“heat up” with actual fighting between the United States and the Soviet Union It was instead a time when the fight between the ideology of communism and the ideology of democracy took place all over the world
It also was a time of propaganda The Americans used radio
programs to let the people under communist control know that they were not forgotten The programs told them how the American ideology worked The Soviets told their people that the United States was poor and that the American system did not work The Soviets held big parades with tanks and weapons to show the world how powerful they were
The Americans and their allies flew supplies into West Berlin.
Trang 5The Arms Race Begins
In the United States, scientists were busy studying rockets and
missiles They had help from a former German scientist named
Wernher von Braun The Soviets, too, continued to improve their
rockets and missiles They learned a lot from the German V-2 As a result they built a missile called the R-5 that could travel up to 750 miles
Each side was busy making weapons, or arms It
had become an arms race to see which side made
more powerful weapons than the other side
The Cold War was dividing the world The Soviet Union wanted communism to spread, so it supported other communist governments The United States did not want communism to spread, so it supported other governments in their fight against communism
Although the Cold War did not lead to fighting between the United States and the Soviet Union, it did lead to fighting in places such as Korea and Vietnam In those countries, the United States supported those who wanted to be free, while the Soviets supported those who wanted
to spread communism
The R-5 missile could travel up to 750 miles
7
The Race into Space
In 1952 a group of scientists called on countries to make
satellites, or objects that could orbit, or go around, Earth The
scientists wanted to use these satellites to get information to make a map of Earth The United States began a program called Vanguard to build its satellite
In August 1957 the Soviets surprised the world They tested
a missile called an R-7, and it was a success The R-7 was the first ballistic missile that could go a very long distance It could travel so far it could go between continents It was called an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM The missile was powerful enough to send a nuclear bomb all the way to the United States or carry a spacecraft into orbit
Soon, the Soviet Union surprised everyone once again In October
1957 the Soviet Union sent the world’s first satellite into space It
was called Sputnik 1 It was not big In fact it was only about the
size of a basketball However, it weighed 183 pounds, much more than the 3½ pound Vanguard satellite the United States had
planned to launch The space race had begun.
The Soviet-built R-7 missile was the first ICBM.
Trang 6Laika was the first living being in space.
Dog in Orbit
Laika was a small Russian stray dog that became the world’s
first space traveler She was put aboard Sputnik 2 so Soviet scientists
could study a living being in orbit Laika’s trip proved that a
living passenger could survive being launched into space and
going into orbit Her trip made her one of the most famous dogs
in the world Her picture was put on postage stamps in different
countries, and songs were written about her.
9
The United States began to worry that the Soviet Union had accomplished a lot of firsts The Soviet Union now had a powerful missile and had launched a satellite It seemed that the Soviet Union was more powerful than the United States
The world had entered a new era People started calling it the space age
The Soviet Union soon surprised the world again On November
3, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2 This spacecraft weighed 1,120 pounds—much more than Sputnik 1 It also carried a
passenger, a dog named Laika
The United States had trouble with its Vanguard satellite, so it started another program called Explorer Wernher von Braun, the former German scientist, directed the Explorer program Soon
the United States was able to launch its first satellite, Explorer I
Finally, on its fourth try, Vanguard 1 also was launched The
United States was catching up to the Soviet Union in the space race
The United States decided to do more In 1958 it created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) NASA’s programs would help the Unites States explore space and learn more about Earth and the universe
The Soviets and Americans continued to test and study rockets and missiles Missiles improved and they could carry many bombs
They could hit their test targets more often In the United States, military space programs were secret, but civilian space programs were open for all to see In the Soviet Union, all space programs were secret Only when the Soviets had a success did they let the world know what they were doing
Trang 7On October 4, 1959, the Soviet Union again accomplished
a first and sent the first spacecraft around the Moon Luna 3 took
pictures of the far side of the Moon and sent them back to Earth
On April 12, 1961, the Soviets gave the world its biggest surprise
yet by sending the first person into space Yuri Gagarin, aboard
the Soviet spacecraft Vostok, circled Earth and returned safely The
Soviets called their space travelers cosmonauts
A month later, the United States sent the first American into
space Astronaut Alan Shepard flew his spacecraft, named Freedom
7, into space Americans called their space travelers astronauts
Several months later, astronaut John Glenn, aboard the Friendship 7, a
Project Mercury spacecraft, became the first American to orbit Earth
Yuri Gagarin was the first person to orbit Earth
11
The space race continued, but people wondered where the finish line was On May 25, 1961, President John F Kennedy announced that America’s goal in the space race was to land a man
on the Moon before the end of the 1960s The space race was now
a race to the Moon
More studies and tests were done Project Mercury studied how humans could live in space Project Gemini sent two astronauts into space at a time
Next came the Project Apollo program With this program, the United States had the goal of landing people on the Moon and then bringing them safely back to Earth
Alan Shepard was the first American to journey into space
Trang 8The Race Is Won
Finally, the finish line for the space race was approaching With the
Apollo 11 mission, the Americans sent a spacecraft to the Moon
On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong emerged from the
small landing craft named Eagle and stepped onto the Moon His
famous words were: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap
for mankind.”
Soon astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin joined him on the surface
of the Moon The two men collected rocks to bring back to Earth
for study before returning to the command module Columbia,
piloted by Michael Collins, and heading back to Earth
The Americans had won the race and put a man on the Moon
before the Soviets
The space race was finished, yet the Soviets still worked on other
projects They launched the world’s first station in space in 1971
It was called Salyut 1 The Soviets launched seven Salyut space stations
from 1971-1982 Later, Salyut 7 was replaced by another Soviet space
station named Mir.
The United States made its last trip to the Moon in 1972 and
then turned to other projects NASA built a new reusable vehicle
called the space shuttle It also launched a space station called
Skylab Skylab showed Americans that people could live and work
in space for months at a time
The Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, and the Cold
War ended Russia, which had been the largest country in the
Soviet Union, now started to work with—instead of against—the
United States
13
Astronaut Neil Armstrong took this photo of Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin
on the Moon.
Trang 9Space Work’s Cool Tools
During the space race, scientists had to find new ways to
solve the problems of getting into space and working there The
discoveries they made then, and continue to refine today, help us
in many ways Here are a few examples
television satellite dish
What NASA learned in fixing
errors from spacecraft signals
now clears up fuzzy television
pictures and sound.
firefighter suits
The fire-resistant material in firefighter suits was
used in space suits to protect astronauts.
smoke detector
Equipment used in Skylab to help detect poisonous vapors now alerts
us to fires in buildings and homes.
15
Many benefits came from the space race and we continue to learn from today’s space projects
Today, the largest international science project in history is taking place The United States and other countries have worked together
to build the International Space Station In 1998 the first parts were launched and put together
The first crew arrived in 2000
On the International Space Station, scientists are testing new ideas, new tools, and new materials People can look at Earth and see how it is changing
Through NASA, the United States continues its space work NASA spacecraft explore the universe The Hubble Space Telescope and other scientific spacecraft allow researchers
to make discoveries about the universe
The United States plans to explore more of space and to send astronauts back to the Moon someday It also plans to send people to Mars and beyond
computer joystick
The controller you may use to play computer games comes from what scientists learned
as they looked for ways to control robots exploring the Moon’s surface.
ear thermometer
Your doctor can take your temperature in two seconds
or less using technology scientists developed as they tried to detect new stars.
Trang 10Glossary
arms race a race to build more and better weapons than
the enemy has
communism a political and economic system in which the
government owns all businesses and land
ideology a set of beliefs
propaganda a systematic effort to spread opinions or beliefs
satellite an object that is sent into space and orbits Earth
space race a race between the United States and the Soviet
Union to explore outer space during the Cold War
Write to It!
Which country do you think was better suited to take part in the arms race? Which country do you think was most able to win the space race? Write an essay comparing the two countries and the two races they took part in
Write your essay on a separate sheet of paper.
ISBN: 0-328-14917-9
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc
All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America This publication is protected
by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited
reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise For information regarding
permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,
Glenview, Illinois 60025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
Vocabulary
communism ideology propaganda arms race satellite space race
In this book you will read about two powerful countries
with very different sets of beliefs Their distrust of each
other led them into a race to be the first to reach the
Moon The space race has ended, but the exploration of
space has just begun
Photographs
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.
Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd) Opener: ©Bettmann/Corbis
2 ©Getty Images
3 ©Corbis
4 ©Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
6 ©Mark Wade
7 ©Mark Wade
8 ©Bettmann/Corbis
10 ©Novosti/Photo Researchers, Inc.
11 ©Corbis
13 ©NASA Human Space Flight Gallery
14 (CR) ©Stephen Marks/Getty Images, (B) ©Bob Winsett/Index Stock Imagery, (CL) ©Royalty-Free/Corbis
15 (T, B) ©Getty Images