Ashlyn Wright 1

Economic Effects of the Space Race

The 1960s are known for its spirit of protest and social change, but there was something even
bigger going on at about the same time: The space race. Beginning in the 1950s, the space race hit its
highpoint during the 60s and 70s. The U.S. space program, NASA, was competing with the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to see who could do the coolest things in space. The USSR beat the U.S.
by launching Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth, launching the first living being into
space, a dog named Laika, as well as reaching the moon first, and taking the first pictures of the far-side
of the moon.
The U.S., however, declared that it was a race to put a man on the moon. We were behind
during most of the race. Kennedy knew that: To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some
time in manned flight but we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and
move ahead.1 Kennedy was right; the U.S. did make up and move ahead. On July 16, 1969 Neil
Armstrong of Ohio first walked on the moon and made America proud. He also offered peace to other
nations all over the world as people all across the globe watched and listened.
Major advances in space exploration do not happen very much anymore, and space exploration
does not offer much in the field of making a profit. Should we continue our quest of the universe with
hopes of unifying our world, or should we put an end to space exploration and focus on worldly affairs?
Before answering that question one must look back. The space race has created huge advancements for
science, but was it really worth it when all things are considered?
The space race was part of the Cold War with Russia. It was probably the most peaceful part of
the Cold War, because, for the most part, the countries were just making bigger and bigger weapons of
mass destruction. The foremost type of weapon being made was nuclear. Nuclear weapons had just
1

John F. Kennedy, Rice Stadium Moon Speech, Rice University: 12 September 1962, internet, obtained from
http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm, accessed: 10 March 2013.

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been discovered and it wasnt hard to figure out how effective and deadly they could be. The Soviet
Union and the U.S. were both creating nuclear weapons like crazy because nobody wanted to have less
power than somebody else. If a country drops a nuclear bomb on your country, your country needs to
be able to throw something right back at them. Luckily, no nuclear bombs were dropped on the U.S. or
Russia during the cold war, because it would only take one to set off a domino effect of countries
bombing other countries one after the other and it could destroy the world.
America, alone, has developed enough nuclear weapons to wipe out the world completely, yet
we have never used one. In the fiscal year of 2008, U.S. taxpayers spent at least $52.8 billion on
maintaining nuclear weapons alone. The cost to create and develop nuclear weapons is even greater
than the maintenance cost. The total cost of nuclear weapons from their beginning is well into the
trillions. All of that money spent on a threat. You can argue the pointlessness of this threat, but you can
also argue that to actually drop a nuclear bomb would be extremely unethical because of the effects it
would have on all surrounding life.
While it is often assumed by Americans that the U.S. won the space race, in truth, it never really
ended. "There are two classic studies in this genre; one tightly focused on a single event in a confined
period of time, Kennedys decision to race the Soviets to the Moon in 1961, and the second a
comparative study that broadly reinterprets the space race as a whole."2 We did indeed win the race to
put a man on the moon, but the space race is still going on today. Its not as highlighted in the media like
the moon landings, probably because the discoveries are much smaller and less exciting. Japan, China,
India and some European nations are now also involved in the space race, along with the U.S. and
Russia.

Roger D. Launius, Interpreting the Moon Landings: Project Apollo and the Historians. History and Technology,
Taylor & Francis and Routledge. Vol. 22, No. 3 (2006), p. 226.

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The space race began October 4, 1957 when news came that the Soviet Union had launched
Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit earth. Sputnik was launched using a military
intercontinental ballistic missile. The U.S. joined the race January 31, 1958 when the U.S. Army launched
Explorer I. Because Sputnik was a military satellite, and the U.S. did not have access to the design, U.S.
scientists had to do all of the science themselves to create a satellite. If a non-military organization had
launched Russias first satellite, the Space race could have had a very different outcome. For one thing,
U.S. scientists would have most likely launched the non-military satellite, Vanguard-1, first, rather than
launching Explorer 1 with the U.S. Army. The U.S. waited to launch the non-military Vanguard-1 for
political reasons, and so began the space race of the Cold War.
Launching satellites was a big feat in the late 1950s. When Sputnik and Explorer 1 were
launched in 1957 and 1958 people were awed and amazed, especially when they both succeeded. Now
there are thousands of satellites orbiting earth and we use them every day with cell phones, GPS
systems, weather reports and many other things that the current generation depends on. The other
couple thousand satellites orbiting earth are really just pointless junk that got left behind. Based on
satellites alone, it seems the space race was a necessary thing for the world to advance as it has today.
However, satellites and cell phones are not what the space race projected for. The space race was
intended to put a man onto the moon. The technology that went along with it was just a bonus.
Putting a man on the moon is what the space race was all about, but now its about venturing
further and further into space. Perhaps its the lack of a specific goal that causes the space race to have
dissipated since putting a man on the moon; perhaps it is economics. In the 41 years that have passed
since 1969, we have yet to surpass that achievement (putting a man on the moon) in human spaceflight.
Since then, our capability has actually declined considerably and to a degree that would yield shocked
disbelief from anyone in that era. By now, we were supposed to have a base on the Moon, perhaps even

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on Mars, and have sent humans traveling on great odysseys to the outer planets. Instead, we have been
confined to low Earth orbit, and even that ends this year with the retirement of the space shuttle.3
The major question raised by the decline in advancements is: why? Why would NASA and the USSR work
so hard towards space exploration then stop after Neil Armstrong made his legendary voyage to the
moon? What could the reason for staying within earths low orbit be after doing such great things in
1969?
Kennedy believed that giving children a greater education and more jobs to the American
people was a good reason. In 1962 Kennedy said, The growth of our science and education will be
enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and
mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the
school.4 And he also said, During the next 5 years the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
expects to double the number of scientists and engineers in this area, to increase its outlays for salaries
and expenses to $60 million a year; to invest some $200 million in plant and laboratory facilities; and to
direct or contract for new space efforts over $1 billion from this Center in this City.5
Science programs in schools kept going, even though men werent flying into space. NASA kept
providing jobs, even though they werent sending people into space. Instead of exploring and venturing
into space, people started learning and gaining knowledge about space, earth, and our atmosphere. We
may not have progressed in the ways that people expected to after putting a man on the moon. That,
however, is not saying that we havent advanced scientifically as a nation, because we most certainly
have. In fact, an ordinary modern car has more computing power than the system that guided Apollo
astronauts to the moon.

Charles Bolden, Should Congress Endorse the Obama Administrations New Goals and Objectives for Nasa?
Congressional Digest, Congressional Digest Corp. Vol. 90, Issue 7 (2011), p. 220.
4
Kennedy, Rice Stadium Moon Speech,
5
Ibid.

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Putting exploration on hold for the sake of learning and developing technology is nothing new.
In 1961 NASAs launchpad went dormant for a couple of years while its top people laid the groundwork
for the program because so much of the technology required for a moon shot was nonexistent.6 From
1970 to now maybe weve just been learning and developing technology. After all, its going to take a lot
of technology and time for man to travel to Mars and even more technology to travel anywhere farther.
Besides, Ive never heard anyone say hed rather see pictures of voyages to Mars and beyond than have
a car and a smart phone to make his life more convenient.
In order to go on a mission in space you have to be extremely healthy and devoid of health
problems. There is a reason most of the Apollo 11 crew has lived past 80 years. That task itself is a
difficult one to pass for some people. Besides that, an astronaut must be willing to go into space. A
mission such as going to Mars or further is going to take a very long time and also be extremely
dangerous. Most smart, healthy men dont have a curiosity strong enough to make them leave their
friends and family for months and years. Not just leave, but leave the planet. Can you imagine spending
a year in a small rocket ship? Confined all the time, never being able to go outside, working out all the
time to make up for zero gravity; its not exactly desirable. On top of that, theres a strong likelihood of
never making it back because the on the first try its hard to get everything perfect.
There are many reasons for NASA and other space agencies staying on earth for the last forty
years. There is the factor of needing time to learn and develop before actually exploring. It could also be
due to the fact that very few people are willing and healthy enough to leave for months and years at a
time on extremely dangerous missions in space. Underneath all of that, however, is the reason for
nearly every doubt: money.

Nathan Aaseng, The Space Race, (San Diego, CA: Lucent Books) 2001, p. 71.

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Averaged over its history, NASA has spent about $100 billion in todays dollars every five or six
years.7 Thats a lot of money, and the further we go into space, the more it will cost us. People dont
like paying taxes, and people especially dont like paying taxes that dont directly benefit them or
someone they know. The government has no huge incentives for giving NASA more money than it
already does. NASAs most expensive initiatives (including the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs,
propulsion research, the space shuttle, and the space station) have been driven by science of discovery
or the betterment of life on earth. When science does advance, when discovery does unfold, when life
on Earth does improve, they happen as an auxiliary and now as a primary goal of NASAs geopolitical
mission.8
Nobody knows if NASA is going to benefit life on Earth or not. In the past, it has, but usually it is
an accidental discovery that brings about new technology. The government cant afford to give NASA
hundreds of billions of dollars if NASA has a bigger chance of failing than succeeding in an endeavor that
may or may not improve life on earth or discover new science.
Twenty billion dollars a year seems like a lot of money, and in some ways, it is. However, one
must realize how much NASA has to spend in order to run. First, it has to pay all of its employees
decent, full-time wages. On top of that they have to buy supplies for every section of NASAs research
programs. Supplies for these programs can cost millions, and when everybody needs millions of dollars
worth of tools and equipment, it can add up quickly.
Twenty billion dollars to the government is only 0.2% of the national budget. The yearly budget
of the federal government is nearly unfathomable. Since NASAs spending is so little compared to other
areas of spending, such as Medicare, unemployment, and the military, it seems odd that NASA would
get a budget cut when its budget is only 0.2% of the United States annual budget.
7

Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company) 2012,
p. 7.
8
Ibid.

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There was a time however, in 1967, in which NASA's budget was up to 4% of the national budget
with a request of $5.712 billion.9 This was in preparation for the Apollo mission, and even though
Kennedy and his house advisors were striving to limit overall budget growth, it was hard for Kennedy to
say no. Kennedy had made his speech in 1962 to put a man on the moon within the decade, and he was
not about to hinder that effort by not providing NASA with the money they needed to do it.
Its also possible that space exploration has been held back by the thing that controls everything
including money: politics. The fact that presidents and other candidates use their plans for NASA as a
political bumper to gain votes can greatly effect the abilities of NASA. Presidents get reelected every
four to eight years, which is barely enough time for NASA to do much in the ways of discovery. The
constant change of NASAs funding and goals could have a huge effect on its achievements.
One of the worst things about politics is the boundaries it creates. Not only physically, but it
places barriers between people from different countries. If all the great minds of science in the world
could work together, science could go so far. Politics make it difficult to work together because nobody
wants to learn for the sake of learning, people want to get credit, and countries want to get credit for
triumphs in science. If the whole world worked together, everybody would win. Except as politics see it,
if the whole world worked together, nobody would win. In politics, somebodys got to win; somebodys
got to be the better man (or country).
Politics also controls where the money goes. If the people want money to go into space, the
current electives will use that to help boost their campaign. If NASA and other government spending
programs are disliked by the people, current electives will use that to help boost their campaign as well.
Politics has the ability to make programs like NASA look terrible or great and it can throw them around a
great deal making it difficult to advance. Huge scientific projects such as space exploration require years
9

John M. Logsdon, John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon, (175 Fifth Avenue, New York: Palgrave Macmillan)
2012, p. 144.

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and years of learning and planning. Politics make it hard to concentrate on one thing because goals
change so often that we cant achieve great things.
People in Washingtondriven sometimes less by vision than by politicshave for years
neglected NASAs mission and undermined the work of the professionals who fulfill it. Weve seen that
in the NASA budget, which has risen and fallen with the political winds.10
Some people blame NASA and military spending as causes of the recession, however this is
hardly true. First, NASA spends a very small percentage of government money. As for the military, yes
they spend a lot of money, but without that our country might not exist. Yes there have been instances
in which the military has wasted billions, but it's still not the main cause of our current recession.
"According to the experts, the most prominent events leading to the financial catastrophe can be
summarized briefly and categorized into three primary areas as: the credit crunch, the housing collapse,
and the highly leveraged financial market."11
"Looking back, perhaps the greatest success of the space race was the technology revolution it
catalyzed, particularly in communications and broadcasting."12 It's important to realize that even though
putting a man on the moon did little to affect life on earth, the technology discovered along the way was
extremely important. It furthered our technological abilities immensely and scientists were able to
convert many things from rocket science to everyday gadgets.
It's hard to imagine where life would be without satellites orbiting the earth. If it wasn't for the
space race, we might not have that technology yet, and that's only scratching the surface of what we
discovered during the space race. It was the starting point of many technologies that have been
10

Barack Obama, Remarks by the President on Space Exploration in the 21 st Century, John F. Kennedy Space
Center Merritt Island, Florida: 15 April 2010, internet, obtained from
http://www.nasa.gov/news/media/trans/obama_ksc_trans.html, accessed: 16 April 2013.
11
Doreen Mulz, Human Factor Decay: The Cause of the Recession. Review of Human Factor Studies, International
Institute for Human Factor Development, Vol. 16, Issue 1 (2010), p. 89.
12
Joanne Wheeler, Managing Space, Harvard International Review. CMS Cameron Mckenna. Vol. 33, Issue 4
(2012) pp. 60-66, p. 61.

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advanced and improved upon today in the modern world. Science is rarely discovered on purpose. The
best inventions have been found accidentally in a side note, which makes ventures, however expensive,
necessary for advancement on earth.
Plans for space exploration under President Obamas administration have increased. While
many program's budgets were getting cut or frozen, NASAs budget actually increased by six billion
dollars.
By doing that we will ramp up robotic exploration of the solar system, including a probe of the
Suns atmosphere; new scouting missions to Mars and other destinations; and an advanced
telescope to follow Hubble, allowing us to peer deeper into the universe than ever before.
We will increase Earth-based observation to improve our understanding of our climate and our
world -- science that will garner tangible benefits, helping us to protect our environment for future
generations.
And we will extend the life of the International Space Station likely by more than five years, while
actually using it for its intended purpose: conducting advanced research that can help improve the
daily lives of people here on Earth, as well as testing and improving upon our capabilities in space.
This includes technologies like more efficient life support systems that will help reduce the cost of
future missions. And in order to reach the space station, we will work with a growing array of private
companies competing to make getting to space easier and more affordable.13
If the president is able to follow through with his plans for NASA, it is possible that space
programs could become a central part of our society once more. If private companies are competing to
find the cheapest and quickest ways into space, a new space race might be upon us. A race that is
between companies rather than countries could be exactly what the world needs to climb its way back
into space exploration and new discoveries. Like the president said, NASA will be conducting advanced
13

Obama, Remarks by the President on Space Exploration in the 21 st Century

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research that can help improve the daily lives of people here on earth. The key to getting NASA back on
track is ensuring that life on earth, and in America, will improve and be effected the technology
garnered from space exploration.
The Cold War, and more specifically, the Space Race, was really just a huge competition
between the two biggest countries in the world. It would make more sense to assume there was a girl
involved that the Soviet Union and the United States were both trying to impress. Of course, that is not
the case, as far as we know.
It started out as a threat game of if you bomb me, Ill bomb you bigger, but it turned into a
slightly unnecessary arms race of who can make the most bombs, biggest guns, and travel the furthest
into space. It sounds childish at first, but so do most wars, when you really get down to it. The Cold War,
however, was definitely beneficial because of the technology discovered as a result of the tension. Plus,
nobody was really harmed during this war. It could be argued that it was one of the best, most beneficial
wars that has ever occurred because nobody died, but technology was improved immensely and life on
earth is better because of it.
When it comes to putting a man on the moon, it did cost a lot of money, but sometimes money
and struggle is worth the finished product. Kennedy certainly thought it was worth it to put a man on
the moon. The moon-landing may not have changed much in the world except for a couple history
books and some happy memories. However, there was no way to predict what the moon landing would
bring. At the time, however, it was an awe-inspiring feat that filled people around the world with hope.
It highlighted the 20th century as the one that broke the barrier of earth, and stepped into outer space.
For many Americans, that achievement is worth so much more than just money, and it was worth every
penny.