The Space Race

This created .
             much fear in both of the countries.
             Then, on October 4,1957, the Russians launched Sputnik. Sputnik was the first man made .
             object in space. It was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the former Soviet republic of .
             Kazakhstan. Sputnik was launched on an A-1 rocket, and orbited the Earth every 96.2 min at .
             18,000 m.p.h. for 57 days, before burning up in the Earth's atmosphere upon re-entry. The United .
             States had no idea that the Russians could even launch a rocket of this size and power, (98 feet .
             high with over 100,000kg of thrust), and knew nothing about the launch until Sputnik was .
             already in the sky. Although this doesn't seem like a huge deal, it was. If the Soviets could .
             launch a satellite into space, that meant that they had the capability of Inter-Continental Ballistic .
             Missiles, (ICBM's).
             With this technology, the Soviets could launch a rocket with a nuclear warhead equipped, .
             and send it off across the ocean to hit the U.S. Going faster than any airplane or jet could go, .
             there would be no way the United States could shoot it down. In fact, the missile would most .
             probably hit before the U.S. had time to think about retaliating. Although these ICBM's would .
             have much lower accuracy then the missiles of today, you don't need much of an accuracy for a .
             nuclear strike. In less than two hours the Soviet Union could deliver a nuclear strike that would .
             leave the U.S. crippled and kill tens of millions of people.
             If the U.S. did discover the ICBM before it hit, the best it could do was send out B-52's .
             carrying nuclear warheads to the Soviet Union. The B-52's had a maximum speed of 450 M.P.H., .
             but with a full bomb load they wouldn't be going quite that fast. Since the B-52's had to fly under .
             Soviet radar, they would also have to reduce speed so they could effectively maneuver close to .
             the ground. And if at any time they were spotted, the Soviets would be able to send many more .
             fighter planes and jets than the B-52's and their fighter escorts would be able to handle.