The Early Space Race

[Olvirm]

I am currently doing a research paper on the space race for my history class. I am mostly finished with it but I haven't been able to find any information as to why the Soviet Union was so much further ahead of the United States during the early stages of the space race. Does anyone here know? Thanks!

[Nibb31]

They started earlier.

[Kryten]

They also had much more capable launch vehicles, at least initially (compare the first launchers of each-Juno-C; ~10kg to LEO: Sputink; >1 ton to LEO). This is partly due to a larger focus on missiles for strategic missions, and partly due to needing to push larger warheads with said missiles.

[ZedNova]

Honestly i think it's because the US didn't take them seriously, most people here believed that they were a backwards nation that was incapable of going to space. Then when the Soviet Union Launched Sputnik it woke people up to the fact that the Soviets had the technology to launch rockets and get payloads into space. The United states had catching up to do, and i think that's one of the many reasons that the USSR got so many "Firsts" in terms of space travel.

[Tex]

The United States was developing a long-term reusable spacecraft around the time Sputnik was launched. This was actually before NASA, and a group called NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) was handling spaceflight. Once Sputnik began its mission, the government kick-started NASA in its stead, and scrapped the long-term project for immediate results.

Mostly, it was the Soviet space victories that spurred NASA to put out such amazing results. We learned that Gagarin was the first human in space just a few days before Alan Shepard went up, and we also found out that Aleksei Leonov had been on EVA just before Ed White could do it. In fact, because NASA learned of the Soviet spacewalk, they bumped up the first American EVA two whole missions. In addition, the Soviets landed Luna 1 on the moon before US probes could make it.

Understandably, most Americans weren't too happy with these developments. NASA, especially after JFK committed the first moon landings into plans back in '61, was racing to catch up, and we managed to leapfrog the Soviets by the time we triumphantly landed. The US has been ahead ever since (though today, the crown of Space Kings can be contended).

I hope this helps! I also did a paper on it, and here's what I know. I can help you out more if you need it.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Maximus97
Date Change

[rodion_herrera]

Actually, technology-wise, the Soviets weren't that far ahead of the Americans. The main reason it seemed that the Soviets were far ahead were mostly bureaucratic/political. For instance, in the Soviet space program, there was only ONE person deciding on the plan for space exploration, and that was Sergei Korolev. On the side of the US, in the early days, there was internal competition (i.e. Vanguard, which was US Navy, vs. Explorer 1, US Army), and this contributed of course, to delays in deciding the plan for space exploration. Eventually, when NASA got more organized, this internal competition virtually disappeared. However, there were still lobbyists of particular plans/methods say, in getting things done (i.e. getting to the moon the Gemini way, the Apollo way, or the Nova way...or, Earth Orbit Rendezvous vs. Lunar Orbit Rendezvous). Back in Soviet Russia, what Korolev said was to be done, was treated as gold.

[DisarmingBaton5]

I think the fact that the US had so much trouble with Explorer 1 may have contributed to this. That, along with:

They started earlier.

[Camacha]

NASA, especially after JFK committed the first moon landings into plans back in '63, was racing to catch up, and we managed to leapfrog the Soviets by the time we triumphantly landed. The US has been ahead ever since (though today, the crown of Space Kings can be contended).

The Moon landing was pretty much the only big thing the US did first, and arguably the last big thing. They sent some (very succesful) robots up, but let's not forget that the Russians are currently the only ones capable of sending people up into space, with a craft that has been developed and refined since those early days. The US only has an overly expensive retired STS, and some future craft that are not ready and have shaky funding.

The moon landings were a nice achievement, but it is not the end-all people (read: mostly Americans) make it to be.

[bsalis]

Actually, technology-wise, the Soviets weren't that far ahead of the Americans. The main reason it seemed that the Soviets were far ahead were mostly bureaucratic/political. For instance, in the Soviet space program, there was only ONE person deciding on the plan for space exploration, and that was Sergei Korolev. On the side of the US, in the early days, there was internal competition (i.e. Vanguard, which was US Navy, vs. Explorer 1, US Army), and this contributed of course, to delays in deciding the plan for space exploration. Eventually, when NASA got more organized, this internal competition virtually disappeared. However, there were still lobbyists of particular plans/methods say, in getting things done (i.e. getting to the moon the Gemini way, the Apollo way, or the Nova way...or, Earth Orbit Rendezvous vs. Lunar Orbit Rendezvous). Back in Soviet Russia, what Korolev said was to be done, was treated as gold.

Basically this.

They won because they got their act together with NASA, and a huge publicly funded budget. The irony is that, as the Russians would joke, they won it the Soviet way. By comparison, the Soviet space program became more splintered as time went on.