Russia Surpasses Americans In Space Race

Russia Continues to Surpass Americans in the Space Race

On July 25, 1969, many Americans watched their televisions in awe as astronaut
Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and said, "One small step for man, one giant
leap for mankind." Americans were amazed at what advances in technology had
produced: a man on the moon. Ticker tape parades greeted returning astronauts.
America had proven itself a leader in the space race.

Lately, some have begun to suggest that this was not the case at all; some
people have suggested that America never made it to the moon and that it was
just an illusion made with trick photography. Bart Sibrel is one of those
people. He made a video called, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon,"
in which he provides much documentation to suggest that man has yet to walk on
the moon. Is this possible? Could have America faked the entire moon landing?

On first thought, it might sound ludicrous for many - to think that man has not
walked on the moon. After all, it would require such a grand conspiracy that,
certainly, someone who was privy to such information would have spoken.
Nevertheless, there are those who are skeptical of this moon-walking.

Surprisingly, some of the ideas presented by them are not as preposterous as
they might sound. Based on surveys, it has been estimated that between 6 and 20
percent of Americans do not believe a man actually walked on the moon. Are 6-20
percent of Americans fools, or are they a little brighter than the rest?

In order to fully understand the claim that man did not walk on the moon, the
events leading up to this event that most Americans consider an historic fact
must be re-examined and scrutinized. We must go back in time, when the space
race between Russia (or the Soviet Union, as it was known then) first started.
By doing this, I feel that you will better understand the arguments both for and
against the claim of man walking on the moon.

What I present here may shock many fellow Americans, as we generally view our
nation and its space exploration program as being, by far, superior to that of
all other nations. 

After all, we were the first nation to have "a man walk on the moon" (or so we
believe). While this might possibly be true that America was the first nation to
have a man walk on the moon (though there is evidence to suggest otherwise). As
difficult as it may be for many to admit, this appears to be the only "first"
America had in the great space race.
If we are to be honest, during the "space race" from the late-1950s until the
time American astronauts were to have walked on the moon, Russia was utterly
devastating America. This was probably both due to the fact that Russians were
highly educated and the fact that, with Russia�s strict Communist leadership at
the time, failure was not an option. And Russia�s society encouraged
intelligence, whereas America�s society has beenencouraging a host of things -
such as artying and irresponsibility - none of which promoted intelligence.

In 1957, America was astonished, as was the rest of the world, when it was
discovered that a Russian satellite, Sputnik, had gone into outer space. People
were absolutely amazed that such a device made it into outer space. Not only was
the scientific community of America in awe, but so too was the American
military, who were greatly concerned about Russia having the ability to put such
a device in outer space.

Later that year, Russia again made a first, when a small dog, Laika (which means
"barker"), was launched into outer space.  This again sent shockwaves throughout
the world. Americans heard about this and were astonished that a dog went into
outer space.  This dog was actually put into orbit, and unfortunately died 6
hours later while in space, not being able to withstand the rigors involved.

Meanwhile, in 1957, while America stood shocked at Russia�s progress, America
attempted to launch its own satellite into outer space. This was meant to show
the Russians that America too was a contender in the space race. A satellite was
to accompany the rocket, which had been tested for stress. America felt
everything was prepared. But the rocket blew up at the launch pad, never leaving
the ground. It was an international embarrassment.

In 1959, trying to copy what Russia had done two years prior, America was
finally getting an animal into outer space. A couple of monkeys went up only 300
miles for just 15 minutes total.  This, of course, was a far cry from the orbit
in which the Russian dog was put two years previous. However, the monkeys did
return alive.

While America was sending rockets up for 15 minutes in 1959, Russia was again
making shockwaves when its satellite Luna-1 flew by the moon. Later in 1959, the
Russian satellite Luna-2 reached the moon�s surface and left national symbols of
the then-USSR. Again in 1959, the satellite Luna-3 made another first for
Russia, when it took pictures of the far side of the moon, transmitting these
pictures back to Russia.
Russia also had the first space probe to circle the earth.

A couple years later in 1961, Russia then became the first country to have a man
orbit the earth, Yuri Gagarin, who road aboard the space craft Vostok. This
again astonished the international community, who were surprised that such a
feat never tried before could be accomplished. While the Russians were orbiting
the earth, the American Alan Shepard was launched just 115 miles into space, not
even going close to the distance Russia�s dog had traveled two years prior; and
he landed in the Atlantic Ocean 15 minutes later. Meanwhile, Russia again had
nother first in 1961, when its interplanetary probe Venera-1 was launched to
Venus.

In 1962, America became the second country to have a man of its own in orbit
around the earth, John Glenn. Parades greeted John Glenn when he returned. Due
to his notoriety, he later became a U.S. Senator because Americans care more for
celebrity status than fit politicians.

President John F. Kennedy at this time said America would have a man on the Moon
by the end of the decade. He was later assassinated in 1964, leaving his dream
of having a man on the moon to be fulfilled by others.

In 1962, Russia was the first nation to have two rockets with cosmonauts in
outer space at the same time. It was known as the first "formation flying" in
space when the two manned spacecraft, Vostok-3 and Vostok-4, traveled near each
other in unison.

In 1963 Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
She was aboard the Vostok-6. Not only was this significant by the fact that she
was a woman, but she was also just a regular person, who had worked at a textile
factory. So she was also the first public citizen in space, not being the
typical cosmonaut.

In 1964, trying to duplicate what Russia had done back in 1959, America launched
the Ranger VII, which took pictures of the moon and then crash-landed into it.
Nevertheless, it did send some interesting images of the moon, close-up images
that attracted a great deal of curiosity to Americans, who might have only been
able to have seen such images if Russia had shared theirs.

In 1964, Russia became the first nation to have launched two satellites,
Elektron-1 and Electron-2, while just using one rocket.

In 1965, tragedy struck when the American rocket Atlas blew up on the launch
pad, causing incredible damage. This terrible event sent a chill up many
potential astronauts� backs. It re-emphasized the importance of safety
precautions. Some feel that this accident was not quite that - that it may have
very well have ended that way due to some astronauts not wanting to go along
with a plan; in short, some feel they were assassinated by their very own
government. It is not known what evidence such thoughts are based on, however,
if any.

Russia too had a disaster related to safety at a different time, in which many
engineers died. This had occurred several years prior. Nevertheless, over the
years, Russia has shown itself to be much, much safer in its space flights and
landings than America.
In the year that America�s rocket was smoldering on the launch pad, on March 18,
1965, Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov took the first space walk, a ten-minute tethered
excursion outside Voshkod 2.  On June 3, 1965, Edward White II is the first
American to walk in space on Gemini 4, though not as far out in space. He stayed
out for 22 minutes.

In 1966, Neil Armstrong and other astronauts went in space aboard the Gemini
VIII and Agina. They met amid outer space and docked. Later, a malfunction with
Armstrong�s rocket caused him to return to earth prematurely, but fortunately no
one was injured.
Meanwhile in 1966, Russia became the first nation to have an unmanned space
probe, the Lunar IX, to actually land softly on the moon. It transmitted
pictures from its surface back to earth. Also in 1966, the Venera-3 became the
first spacecraft to reach the surface of Venus. National symbols of the USSR
were left there. In 1966, Russia had the first satellite put in orbit around the
moon, the Lunar X space probe.

In 1967, Russia had the first two unmanned spacecrafts that automatically met in
space then docked and undocked.

Also in 1967, tragedy struck three American astronauts who died while sitting
inside a rocket. Their capsule burst into flames.  The reason why it caught fire
is largely unknown; it is thought to have started as the result of a spark of
unknown origin that was somehow able to ignite the extremely well-insulated fuel
tanks. Again, some feel that there may be more to this incident than we
currently know.

In 1968, Russia�s unmanned rocket Zond-5 became the first to travel around the
moon and return back to earth unscathed.  Russia was the first to have a manned
spacecraft orbit the earth, Vostok, several years prior. Russia had already
showed the world that it was the first to have an unmanned spacecraft, the Lunar
IX, softly land on the moon, and now it showed the world that it could even have
an unmanned spacecraft circle the moon and return, with Zond-5.

Why didn�t Russia then send up a man on one of its spacecrafts to the moon? It
would have seemed simple enough. I�ll get to this later.

1969 - Again, Russia had another first: The first docking of manned spacecraft
(Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5), and crew transfer from one spacecraft to the other
through open space.

1969 - Still another first for Russia occurred: The first formation flying of
three manned spacecraft, Soyuz-6, Souyz-7 and Soyuz-8, during which they
maneuvered relatively close to each other, with ground facilities providing
simultaneous support for the three spacecraft.

Meanwhile, in America, the end of the decade was approaching.  The
late-President John F. Kennedy�s dream was becoming just that: a dream. Violence
gripped America, with the war in Viet Nam and racial riots across America�s
cities. America�s leaders were desperately looking for "heroes" - some people to
keep the public�s minds off of the problems at home. America was looking for
something to distract Americans from the failing policies.

America�s leaders wanted to show the world that its insane policies were a match
to the highly educated Russians and their orderly society. While America�s wars
at home and abroad were causing much turmoil, America desperately needed some
"pride" -anything for which to be proud.

Russians had wanted to go to the moon. However, there were many concerns with
safety. The Van Allen Belts released a deadly radiation that could easily fry a
person to death. Plus, the moon is 250,000 miles away - quite a distance. While
I�m not familiar with how fast the rockets were, traveling at 1,200 miles per
hour, it would be approximately a 20-day journey each way, provided there were
no problems. Even at 2-3 times that speed, it would still be a difficult
journey. The amount of fuel required would be staggering, with the added weight
of people, food, air, supplies, etc. Yet somehow, these rockets managed to go
much, much faster in a zero atmosphere with nothing with which to propel?
Perhaps, the speed is possible, yet one cannot deny the deadly radiation rays
out in space known as the Van Allen Belts.

One cosmonaut who was sent in far outer space reportedly experienced the Van
Allen Belts harmful effects firsthand.  According to various sources, while he
left white, he came back black; he was cooked to a crisp due to the harmful
radiation.  This was despite heavy shielding to dissipate any rays, which did no
good. Those who knew about this incident were reportedly devastated.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, as Americans and the rest of the world stood in
front of their televisions, two astronauts stepped on the moon in 1969. Up until
then, America was putting people about 400 miles away in orbit - far away from
the harmful Van Allen Belts. But suddenly Americans made it into outer space -
landing and walking on the moon - 250,000 miles away, no less?

In 1965, the U.S. made a fake moon landscape, which was used for testing a space
vehicle. Some have suggested the scenery for the moon landing was faked. Could
this have been it?
Russia seemed to continue to have "firsts" - except for the moon landing. On
April 19, 1971, they had the first Space Station.  The Soviets launch Salyut 1,
the first orbiting space station.  Salyut 1�s original crew reportedly died
during re-entry on June 30, 1971. Georgi Bobroeolski, Vladislav Volkov, and
Victor Patsayev had spent a new record of 23 days in outer space.

It wasn�t for two more years that the first American Space Station - May 14,
1973 - was developed. The first American space station, Skylab, is damaged
during launch. The first of three crews arrive 11 days later for a 28-day stay.
They make in-orbit repairs and set records for time spent in space.

Russia had the first woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, to participate in a space walk
on July 17, 1984. With her partner, Vladimir Dzhanibekov, she conducted welding
experiments for over three hours outside the Soviet space station Salyut 7.
Savitskaya had become the second woman to fly in space during a Soviet mission
in 1982.

There were all these "firsts" by Russia. Yet Russia has yet to land a man on the
moon? Why? While people seldom hear about it, nor do they listen even if so,
Russian Cosmonaut Boris Volynov has gone on record saying that he does not
believe that Americans landed on the moon. It seems he is far from the only one
to think this way. Indeed, it is doubtful he is the only cosmonaut to feel this
way.

Further, one astronaut - Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon - has
confirmed some doubts. This is not to say that he supports the contention that
man did not land on the moon.

He is an astronaut, after all. He probably enjoys the notoriety. And you have to
wonder if some of the past astronauts might have been given the death sentence
for planning to go on record about such things? Or were there merely some bad
"accidents"? Whatever the case may be, Armstrong is getting older. And he does
seemingly admit that something is amiss.

Indeed, there is definitely something wrong here. If you take a moment to view
video footage of the moon landing by U.S.  astronauts from back in the 1960s,
you�ll notice that the dust kicked up by astronauts immediately settles down,
just as if it was sand on the beach. Yet we all know that not only does the moon
have less gravity, but it also has zero-atmosphere.  Therefore, the moon dust
should travel further given the force and little to counteract it. Yet, for some
strange, unexplained reason, the moon dust resettles back to the ground at the
same gravitational rate of 32 ft./sec. as the earth.

In a letter I received back from the astronaut Armstrong, which asked him about
this strange fact of the same gravitational pull on both the moon and earth, the
response I was sent surprisingly admitted that, yes, the gravitational pull
should be different.  Of course, Armstrong didn�t come right out and admit that
this was the case. That might be the death sentence for him - similar to what 3
other U.S. astronauts experienced in the 1960s when their simulated rocket
mysteriously blew up during a ground test?  Oh, it was just an accident? It
makes you pause for a moment.

Now, of course, it looks like the race to Mars has begun. U.S.  President George
W. Bush has stated that, perhaps, man will walk on Mars by the year 2020. Bush
stated that NASA may send astronauts to the moon again so that they may
experience the effects of space travel shortly before sending them to Mars.

But if you look at the facts, you really have to wonder: Has man made it to the
moon yet?