Space and arms race

When was sputnik launched and why is this such a big deal?

October 1957

The Russians had beaten the US at getting into space- making the latter look weaker on the technological front. They would then rub salt in the wound by launching Sputnik II (containing Laika) in 1958 whilst the US Vanguard TV3 only made it 4ft off the ground, nicknamed kaputnik by the press.

Why was the space race so crucial to cold war politics?

The ability to develop rocket engines that could reach earth’s orbit had big implications for a nation’s ability to make WMDs and ICBMs specifically.

Who was Werner von Braun?

A member of the Nazi party and aerospace engineer who was hired by NASA in 1958 to try and beat the Soviets in the space race.

How had nuclear development progressed since Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)? (2)

By 1953 H-bombs with 7x the power of the H+N bombs had been developed

By 1955 1/3 of US nuclear bombers were kept poised at a 15 minute’s notice

How big was the soviet nuclear stockpile V. the US nuclear stockpile?

The US had 5543, the soviets had 650.

What was Eisenhower and Dulles’ “New Look”?

The idea that the US and their allies should promise massive retaliation but not overexert themselves financially (hence the big nuclear stockpile)