The Space Race: “Prestige as Important as Power”

Upon the Soviet Union’s launching of Sputnik during 1957, the United States came to the understanding that on top of illustrating the overwhelming power and advancements of the American military establishment, it was time for the United States to illustrate more “power and prestige” within their outer space programs. Americans told themselves, and who knows whether this was a possibility or not, that the “Soviets posed danger that was infinite in duration,” as President Eisenhower said in his commencement speech. Now everyone knows about the launching of Sputnik by the Soviets, the placing of a man on the moon by the Americans and the outcome of the Cold War that would result in an “American victory,” and ignoring all the speeches made by “so and so” or what side did what, I pose the question: why was the space race between the Soviets and the Americans so significant to the underlying purpose of the Cold War?

Though the United States was “victorious” upon the conclusion of the Cold War, I nonetheless believe that the Soviet Union got the better of the United States during a war that could be characterized by one word: stalemate. The United focused heavily on their military establishment, specifically that of nuclear weapons, because the Soviets were doing so. The United State then began to focus heavily on the space race, due to the launching of Sputnik. While many view the Cold War as one of Democracy versus Communism or “good versus evil”, I like to view the Cold War as a number of chess moves, the Space Race being a significant move, taking place in a game of chess between the Soviets and the Americans.

Still, why was the “space race” so significant in the Cold War, war being defined as the waging of armed conflict against an enemy. The last time I checked, a “waging of armed conflict”, such as the nuclear weapons that both sides possessed, had nothing to do with a “race to space”. The bottom line is that there is no “right answer” to my question. The United State and the Soviet Union simply got caught up in beating one another in any aspect, whether that be arms or space, and if the Soviets were to harvest a lot of corn, I’m sure the United States would come back at them, working hard to harvest that much more corn than the Soviet Union. In the end, the reason for the “space race” between the Soviets and the Americans can simply be viewed as either side making a move in “their game of chess” that would substantially prove their power and prestige.