Background

= __ Background on Going to the Moon __ =

==After World War II, the United States and Russia both came out as leading powers of the world. Following World War II, starting in 1947 conflicts between the United == ==States and the Soviet Union presented them with the Cold War. However, it wasn't a physical war, it was a war based on threats due to military and political tension with communists and the democracy in the United States. Citizens of the United States were threatened by the "Red Scare," a fear of the spread of communism. One of the main tactics of this war was also the competition in space. Throughout the 1950s and 60s the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the “space race,” challenging one an other to make advances into space. This originated during ==

the Cold War when Soviets and the United States got a sense of
==competition, by always being determined to one up each other.  Dr. John P. Hagen , a US senior scientist with the Naval == ==﻿Research Laboratory, was convinced he to //launch a satellite called “Project Vanguard”// for the United States. Difficulties with the project were clear when it was running late and was over budget. ==


==﻿On October 4, 1957, the Soviets shocked the United States by //launching Sputnik//, the first Russian satellite “an aluminum 22-inch sphere with four spring-loaded whip antennae trailing, it weighed only 183 pounds and traveled elliptical orbit that took it around the Earth every 96 minutes” (Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age), into space. The US was determined to advance farther than the Soviets because “the public feared that the Soviets’ ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the US” (Garber). == ==Sputnik Launchi ==

impact of Sputnik,
==President John F. Kennedy  was struggling on how to respond, because he felt that Americans needed to prove themselves as the leading power of the “space race.” Eventually he developed an idea of going to the moon however he couldn’t decide whether or not it was worth the time and effort of Americans. After == ==talking to vice president, <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lyndon Johnson <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, and NASA administrator <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">James Webbs <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, they decided the journey would be dangerous; but ultimately, it would also put them in the lead of the “space race.” ==

= Decision Page=