Editing Space Race (section)

== Origins ==

[[File:Von Braun 1952 Space Station Concept 9132079 original.jpg|thumb|[[Wernher von Braun]]'s space station concept (1952)]]

Although Germans, [[Robert H. Goddard|Americans]] and Soviets experimented with small liquid-fuel rockets before World War&nbsp;II, launching satellites and humans into space required the development of larger [[ballistic missiles]] such as [[Wernher von Braun]]'s [[Aggregat (rocket family)|Aggregat-4 (A-4)]], which became known as the [[Vergeltungswaffe 2]] (V-2) developed by [[Nazi Germany]] to bomb the Allies in the war.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemünde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780029228951|url-access=registration|last=Neufeld|first=Michael J|publisher=The Free Press|year=1995|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780029228951/page/158 158], 160–62, 190|isbn=978-0-02-922895-1}}</ref> After the war, both the US and USSR acquired custody of German rocket development assets which they used to leverage the development of their own missiles.

Public interest in space flight was first aroused in October 1951 when the Soviet rocketry engineer [[Mikhail Tikhonravov]] published "Flight to the Moon" in the newspaper ''Pionerskaya pravda'' for young readers. He described a two-person interplanetary spaceship of the future and the industrial and technological processes required to create it. He ended the short article with a clear forecast of the future: "We do not have long to wait. We can assume that the bold dream of [[Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]] will be realized within the next 10 to 15 years."{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=89}} From March 1952 to April 1954, the US [[Collier's|''Collier's'' magazine]] reacted with a series of seven articles [[Man Will Conquer Space Soon!]] detailing [[Wernher von Braun]]'s plans for crewed spaceflight. In March 1955, Disneyland's animated episode "[[Man in Space]]" which was broadcast on US television with an audience of about 40 million people, eventually fired the public enthusiasm for space travel and raised government interest, both in the US and USSR.

=== Missile race ===
{{Main|Intercontinental ballistic missile}}

Soon after the end of World War II, the two former allies became engaged in a state of political conflict and military tension known as the [[Cold War]] (1947–1991), which polarized Europe between the Soviet Union's [[satellite state]]s (often referred to as the [[Eastern Bloc]]) and the states of the [[Western world]] allied with the U.S.{{sfn|Schmitz|1999|pp=149–54}}

In August 1949, the Soviet Union became the second nuclear power after the United States with the successful [[RDS-1]] nuclear weapon test. In October 1957, the Soviet Union conducted the world's first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), this was the [[R-7 Semyorka]] (also known as SS-6 by NATO) and was seen as capable of striking U.S. territory with a nuclear payload.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Timeline: U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arms Control |url=https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-russia-nuclear-arms-control |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=www.cfr.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=R-7 - SS-6 SAPWOOD Russian / Soviet Nuclear Forces |url=https://nuke.fas.org/guide/russia/icbm/r-7.htm |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=nuke.fas.org}}</ref> Fears in the US due to this perceived threat became known as the [[Missile gap]]. The first American ICBM, the [[Atlas missile]], was tested in late 1958.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nuclear Weapons and the Escalation of the Cold War, 1945-1962 {{!}} Department of History |url=https://history.stanford.edu/publications/nuclear-weapons-and-escalation-cold-war-1945-1962 |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=history.stanford.edu |language=en}}</ref>

ICBMs presented the ability to strike targets on the other side of the globe in a very short amount of time and in a manner which was impervious to air interception such as bombers might have been. The value which ICBMs presented in a nuclear standoff were very substantial, and this fact greatly accelerated efforts to develop rocket and rocket interception technology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cold War Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles I |url=https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/01/10/cold-war-intercontinental-ballistic-missiles-i/ |website=weaponsandwarfare|date=January 10, 2020 }}</ref>

=== Soviet rocket development ===
{{Further|Soviet rocketry|Soviet space program}}

[[File:Roket Launcher R-7.svg|thumb|The Soviet stable of Sputnik, Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz [[launch vehicle]]s were all derivatives of the [[R-7 (rocket family)|R-7 Semyorka]] [[intercontinental ballistic missile|ICBM]].]]

The first Soviet development of artillery rockets was in 1921 when the Soviet military sanctioned the [[Gas Dynamics Laboratory]], a small research laboratory to explore solid-fuel rockets, led by [[Nikolai Tikhomirov (chemical engineer)|Nikolai Tikhomirov]], who had begun studying solid and liquid-fueled rockets in 1894, and obtained a patent in 1915 for "self-propelled aerial and water-surface mines.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=6}}{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=164-5 Vol 1}} The first test-firing of a solid fuel rocket was carried out in 1928.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=165 Vol 1}}

Further development was carried out in the 1930s by the [[Group for the Study of Reactive Motion]] (GIRD), where Soviet rocket pioneers [[Sergey Korolev]], [[Friedrich Zander]], [[Mikhail Tikhonravov]] and [[Leonid Dushkin]]{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=4-5}} launched [[Group for the Study of Reactive Motion#GIRD-X rocket|GIRD-X]], the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket in 1933.<ref>{{cite web |title=GIRD (Gruppa Isutcheniya Reaktivnovo Dvisheniya) |url=http://weebau.com/rock_rus/gird.htm |website=WEEBAU |access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref> In 1933 the two [[OKB|design bureaus]] were combined into the [[Reactive Scientific Research Institute]]<ref name="RSW_GDL">{{cite web |last1=Zak |first1=Anatoly |title=Gas Dynamics Laboratory |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/gdl.html |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref> and produced the RP-318, the USSR's first [[Korolyov RP-318|rocket-powered aircraft]] and the [[RS-82 (rocket family)|RS-82 and RS-132 missiles]],{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=167 vol 1}} which became the basis for the [[Katyusha rocket launcher|Katyusha]] [[multiple rocket launcher]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Greatest World War II Weapons: The Fearsome Katyusha Rocket Launcher |url=https://defencyclopedia.com/2016/02/20/greatest-world-war-ii-weapons-the-fearsome-katyusha-rocket-launcher/ |website=Defencyclopidea |date=February 20, 2016 |access-date=20 May 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=9}} During the 1930s Soviet rocket technology was comparable to Germany's,{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=167-8 Vol 1}} but [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[Great Purge]] from 1936 to 1938 severely damaged its progress.

In 1945 the Soviets captured several key [[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] A-4 ([[V-2]]) rocket production facilities, and also gained the services of some [[German influence on the Soviet space program|German scientists and engineers]] related to the project. A-4s were assembled and studied and the experience derived from assembling and launching A4 rockets was directly applied to the Soviet copy, called the [[R-1 (missile)|R-1]],{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=24-39}}{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=41 Vol 2}} with NII-88 chief designer [[Sergei Korolev]] overseeing the R-1's development.,{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=49}} The R-1 entered into service in the [[Soviet Army]] on 28 November 1950.<ref name="Zaloga20132">{{cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steven J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gS8VDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA41|title=V-2 Ballistic Missile 1942–52|date=20 March 2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-0299-6|page=41}}</ref><ref name="Zaloga2013">{{cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steven J.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8X-HCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT6|title=Scud Ballistic Missile and Launch Systems 1955–2005|date=20 March 2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-0306-1|pages=6–15|chapter=R-11: the Scud A}}</ref> By the latter half of 1946, Korolev and rocket engineer [[Valentin Glushko]] had, with extensive input from German engineers, outlined a successor to the R-1, the [[R-2 (missile)|R-2]] with an extended frame and a new engine designed by Glushko,{{Sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=42}} which entered service in November, 1951, with a range of {{convert|600|km}}, twice that of the R-1.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=48-49 Vol 2}} This was followed in 1951 with the development of the [[R-5 Pobeda]], the Soviet Union's first real strategic missile, with a range of {{cvt|1200|km}} and capable of carrying a 1 megaton (mt) [[Thermonuclear weapon|thermonuclear]] warhead. The R-5 entered service in 1955.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=242-285 Vol 2}} Scientific versions of the R-1, R-2 and R-5 undertook various experiments between 1949 and 1958, including flights with [[Russian space dogs|space dogs]].<ref name=rsp>{{cite book|title=Russian Space Probes: Scientific Discoveries and Future Missions|author1=Brian Harvey|author2=Olga Zakutnyaya|date=2011|publisher=Springer Praxis Books|location=Chichester, UK|oclc=1316077842}}</ref>{{rp|21–23}}

Design work began in 1953 on the [[R-7 Semyorka]] with the requirement for a missile with a launch mass of 170 to 200 tons, range of 8,500&nbsp;km and carrying a {{convert|3000|kg|abbr=on}} nuclear warhead, powerful enough to launch a nuclear warhead against the United States. In late 1953 the warhead's mass was increased to 5.5 to 6 tons to accommodate the then planned [[Thermonuclear weapon|theromonuclear bomb]].{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=128-132}}<ref name="NASM" /> The R-7 was designed in a two-stage configuration, with four boosters that would jettison when empty.<ref>{{Cite web |title=R-7 History |url=https://www.worldspaceflight.com/addendum/r7/r7_history.php |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.worldspaceflight.com}}</ref> On the 21 August 1957 the R-7 flew {{convert|6000|km|abbr=on}}, and became the worlds's first intercontinental ballistic missile.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=160-161}}<ref name="NASM">{{cite web |title=The Military Rockets that Launched the Space Age |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/military-rockets-launched-space-age |website=National Air and Space Museum |date=August 9, 2023 |access-date=24 December 2023}}</ref> Two months later the R-7 launched [[Sputnik 1]], the first artificial satellite, into orbit, and became the basis for the [[R-7 (rocket family)|R-7 family]] which includes [[Sputnik (rocket)|Sputnik]], [[Luna (rocket)|Luna]], [[Molniya (rocket)|Molniya]], [[Vostok (rocket family)|Vostok]], and [[Voskhod (rocket)|Voskhod]] [[Expendable launch system|space launchers]], as well as later [[Soyuz (rocket family)|Soyuz]] variants. Several versions are still in use and it has become the world's most reliable space launcher.<ref name="HSC">{{cite web |title=Russian Rockets and Space Launchers |url=https://historicspacecraft.com/Rockets_Russian.html |website=Historic Spacecraft |access-date=26 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Zak |first1=Anatoly |title=The R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile |url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/r7.html |website=Russian Space Web |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref>

=== American rocket development ===

[[File:Early US Rocket Launchers.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The US stable of [[Explorer 1]], [[Project Mercury|Mercury]], [[Project Gemini|Gemini]], and [[Apollo program|Apollo]] launch vehicles were a varied group of ICBMs and the NASA-developed [[Saturn IB]] rocket.]]

Although American rocket pioneer [[Robert H. Goddard]] developed, patented, and flew small liquid-propellant rockets as early as 1914, the United States was the only one of the three major allied World War II powers to not have its own rocket program, until Von Braun and his engineers were expatriated from Nazi Germany in 1945. The US acquired a large number of V-2 rockets and recruited von Braun and most of his engineering team in [[Operation Paperclip]].{{sfn|Schefter|1999|p=29}} The team was sent to the Army's [[White Sands Missile Range|White Sands Proving Ground]] in New Mexico, in 1945.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|p=123}} They set about assembling the captured V-2s and began a program of launching them and instructing American engineers in their operation.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|pp=129–34}} These tests led to the [[first photos of Earth from space]], and the first two-stage rocket, the [[WAC Corporal]]-[[V-2 sounding rocket|V-2]] combination, in 1949.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|pp=129–34}} The German rocket team was moved from [[Fort Bliss]] to the Army's new [[Redstone Arsenal]], located in [[Huntsville, Alabama]], in 1950.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|p=137}} From here, von Braun and his team developed the Army's first operational medium-range ballistic missile, the [[PGM-11 Redstone|Redstone rocket]], derivatives of which launched both America's first satellite, and the first piloted Mercury space missions.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|p=137}} It became the basis for both the [[Jupiter-C|Jupiter]] and [[Saturn (rocket family)|Saturn family of rockets]].{{sfn|Burrows|1998|p=137}}

Each of the United States armed services had its own ICBM development program. The Air Force began ICBM research in 1945 with the [[MX-774]].<ref name="Atlas">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.astronautix.com/a/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710093606/http://www.astronautix.com/a/index.html |archive-date=July 10, 2016 |title= Atlas |encyclopedia= Encyclopedia Astronautix |last= Wade|first= Mark|access-date=September 28, 2020}}</ref> In 1950, von Braun began testing the Air Force [[PGM-11 Redstone]] rocket family at Cape Canaveral.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Man on the Moon: The U.S. Space Program as a Cold War Maneuver|jstor = 25162945|journal = OAH Magazine of History|date = January 1, 1994|pages = 42–50|volume = 8|issue = 2|first = Rita G.|last = Koman|doi = 10.1093/maghis/8.2.42}}</ref> By 1957, a descendant of the Air Force MX-774 received top-priority funding.<ref name="Atlas"/> and evolved into the [[SM-65 Atlas|Atlas-A]], the first successful American ICBM.<ref name="Atlas"/> The Atlas made use of a thin stainless steel fuel tank which relied on the internal pressure of the tank for structural integrity, this allowed an overall lighter weight design.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atlas Missiles and Space Launchers {{!}} Historic Spacecraft |url=https://historicspacecraft.com/Rockets_Atlas.html |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=historicspacecraft.com}}</ref> [[WD-40]] was developed to prevent rust on the Atlas rockets so that rust protecting paint could be avoided, to further reduce weight.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Much Do You Know About the History and Invention of WD-40? |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/wd-40-1992659 |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=WD-40 History {{!}} Learn the Stories Behind the WD-40 Brand {{!}} WD-40 |url=https://www.wd40.com/history/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.wd40.com}}</ref>

A later variant of the Atlas, the [[SM-65 Atlas|Atlas-D]], served as a nuclear ICBM and as the orbital launch vehicle for [[Project Mercury]] and the remote-controlled [[Agena Target Vehicle]] used in [[Project Gemini]].<ref name="Atlas" />