User:Ekeefe0125

-The Space Race was a competition between The United States of America and Soviet Russia. Just like the cold war, there was never any official statement between the countries stating guidelines or rules for the race, it just started happening. It was more between scientists and the people of the respective countries. There is an interesting niche of culture that needs to be investigated. What was happening in Russia that is allowing for interstellar space crafts to be designed? Does Russia have a decent education program?

-The education system played a huge role in the success of the success of the Soviet Union’s space program. Even though America seemed to win by making it to the moon, the Soviet’s efforts should not be dismissed. Without their initial effort in the space race, the spawn of interplanetary exploration would probably still be in its infancy. This noticed effort can be seen as a product of the education system that was put into place by the soviet government. To notice the Soviet Unions education system working, a summary of the race and accomplishments are as follows.

-On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. Then a month later, Sputnik II went up but carrying a larger payload and a passenger. This passenger was the famous rocket dog, Liaka. Soviet Union proved to the world that living entities, including mammals, could live in space. Unfortunately, Liaka never made it back to Earth. In an effort to catch up, America launched their own space program, and sent Explorer I in to space in January 1958. This declared the start of the space race. To confirm the lead, the Soviet Union sent the Astronaut to orbit, Yuri Gagarin, in April 1961 in Vostok I. A few weeks later, the American Alan Sheppard reached space in Freedom VII. It seemed like America was keeping up in the race but the Soviet Union kept beating America to the finish line. Soviet Union completed the first dual man flight, the first woman in space, the first three men flight, and the first spacewalk. Meanwhile America focused on landing a man on the moon. Then on July 20, 1969 NASA’s lunar module, Apollo 11 went to and from the moon. The very next day, the Soviet Union attempted the same but failed. This unofficially marked the end of the space race. America had won, the lunar landing was the distinguished end line.



-The school system that was put into place was the reason for these ambition and accomplishments. “Every village had a school” – (revolutionary democracy). Before the Communists came into power, the Soviet Union was mostly an agricultural state and most of the population was illiterate. With the ambition of making the Soviet Union a more comfortable country to live in, the masses needed to be educated. Four days after the Soviet government assumed power in 1917, the Bolshevikspublished a long-term educational program. A few guide lines are as follows. Preschool up to age 8 was optional. School is free up until age 15. After age 15, personal finances are required to continue but scholarships are rewarded to the gifted. Lessons are given in the native tongue of the different republics in the Soviet Union. Free industrial training is given. Boys and girls are educated together. School was not just book learning, lots of fieldtrips to farms and factories were taken.

-The classes that were taught in soviet schools are worth some scrutiny as well. Since communism basically rejects religion, religion was eliminated from the curriculum. Many of the history classes were full of communist propaganda and some possibly false information. It can be assumed that if a student is expected to understand useless or meaningless information, the student’s interest in a subject will decreased.

-After noticing the chart shown, there is obviously a huge emphasis on Russian Language and Literature. Math is right beneath it in total hours spent per school year. If science encompasses Biology, Physics, Astronomy, and Chemistry then the total hours spent per year on Science is 1320. This is another confirmation that the Soviet Union’s school system was producing qualified engineers. The students were equipt with knowledge of science, mathematics, and practical work, everything that an engineer needs to be able to design and build a space craft. “Great importance is placed on making everything part of real life, and not just book-learning. Lessons are accompanied by practical work wherever possible; excursions are made to factories, farms, theatres, as well as to museums, zoos, etc., as in British schools.” – (revolutionary democracy)

-“These Palaces (Pioneers Palace) are to be found in all big towns. They are marvelously equipped buildings, with rooms for all sorts of games, libraries, aeronautical rooms with many instruments and model planes, mechanics’ rooms with engines to take to pieces, gymnasia, etc.” – (revolutionary democracy). There were many afterschool programs for students too. These programs were not mandatory but were encouraged. They were put into place to help students further understand their passions, including space travel. One could understand how these palaces accelerated the interest of space travel to the soviet students. Since the schools are military style, there was a large sense of national pride. If a nation that people believe in is doing successful work in a particular area, i.e the soviet space program, children often find interest in that subject. When the national pride of a successful space program and a school system that allows for special interests to be further investigate are combined, the Soviet’s can-do-attitude is accelerated. This is what happened during the mid 1900’s, the interest in space travel was very prevalent among all individuals and many Soviets acted on this.

-In conclusion, the Soviet Union was very successful in creating an education system that worked. With national pride from victories and a strong education system, space crafts of all sorts can be built by young engineers. The Soviet Union exemplified this in the Space Race.

Ekeefe0125 (talk) 00:50, 25 April 2016 (UTC)http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/anglosov.htm

Ekeefe0125 (talk) 00:50, 25 April 2016 (UTC)https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/68955/10.1177_002248716001100420.pdf?sequence=2

Ekeefe0125 (talk) 02:00, 25 April 2016 (UTC)http://www.history.com/topics/space-race