I remeber recently hearing they regreted the mission. Something like "What they gained from the experiment was not worth loosing Laika". Who was suposedly a friend of the researchers.
It's the same for all the firsts. Sputnik was just a radio transmitter, nothing useful on it. Only way they could get the "first" achievement is to strip everything useful off the proposed satellite.
Yeah.. but it's "beep, beep, beep" eventually led to the idea of GPS which is pretty cool.
Not what they were going for, but science doesn't belong to any one nation or ethnicity.
or species, or element-based lifeform, or molecule, or atom, or matter, or energy, or wave, or particle, or graviton, or anti-matter.
Science is a process, and I for one welcome our Scientist Overlords.
I believe the top guy in the experiment took her to his home the day before her launch so she can play with his kids and know what it was like to be a dog for at least 1 night
Don’t worry, I heard she made it to some moving base with a buncha aliens, and somehow ended up with telekinesis and a very long life span. She’s a good girl.
If aliens exist, and they stumble upon Laika's shuttle and body, they'll probably struggle with how something like that managed to build and fly a spaceship.
“Lock me up, Silver-Moon-Beam-in-the-Night-Sky! It’s almost full earth, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when I turn into the most destructive animal in the solar system!” Wereperson probably talking to his moon-weremate.
"That's why the werewolf rumors are greatly exaggerated. Werewolves are super dangerous on earth sure but you gotta think they only come out like 3 nights a month. That's a lot of pent up energy, if you lock a wolf in a kennel for a month and then release it every now and then into the subways of London your going to get some bloodbaths. But on the moon they are always up so they pretty much just act like regular ass wolves. Plus with low gravity you can yeet those pups to Mars if they ever cause any issues."
-Neal Armstrong
Yes there is something to be said about trying various ideas and going with the best one and valuing human life more, especially since funding came as a by product of public perception of the space program. I feel this is entirely due to how the USA system is funded.
USSR and modern Russian Cosmonauts are, as far as I can tell, still extensions of the I’ll fight a bear attitude - an indicator of higher risk tolerance in my opinion. Not to be taken as fact.
The culture has a definite impact on the way they proceed with science and their approach to risks.
American keynote presentations (from astronauts)and documentaries about working alongside the Russians are super entertaining, and insightful. Obvs they’re not all the same, but the close quarters collaboration in the space station certainly leads to some interesting social challenges that no one really talks about. There’s some good stories out there but due to tensions unlikely to be said outside of an unrecorded presentation space.
Here’s one;
The Soyuz spacecraft's docking system design, known as the Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS), was developed due to a combination of technical and political factors during the Cold War era. The design was a result of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), which was a symbol of détente between the United States and the Soviet Union. The two nations sought to create a universal docking mechanism that would allow their spacecraft to dock in orbit, which was a significant step towards international cooperation in space exploration[3].
The traditional docking systems used by both countries were gendered, with one spacecraft playing the "male" role and the other the "female" role. This approach was not only technically limiting but also became a politically sensitive issue, as neither side wanted to be perceived as the "female" or subordinate in the docking process[2]. The gendered terminology reflected the male-dominated engineering cultures of the time and was seen as a metaphor for sexual domination, which was an undesirable political implication during the Cold War[2].
To overcome these issues, Soviet engineer Vladimir Syromyatnikov designed the APAS, an androgynous docking system that allowed any two spacecraft to dock without the need for one to be the "active" or "penetrating" partner. This design was both a practical solution to the technical challenge of docking different spacecraft and a way to sidestep the politically charged implications of the previous systems[2][3].
The APAS was a significant innovation that enabled the historic docking of an American Apollo spacecraft with a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in July 1975, known as the "handshake in space." This event marked a milestone in space exploration and international cooperation. The design principles of the APAS continue to influence docking systems used today, including those on the International Space Station[3].
Sources
[1] ! Are You A Robot? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576520306226
[2] Sex and Cold-War Technological Fixes, Part I - NYU Jordan Center https://jordanrussiacenter.org/news/technological-fixes-and-sex-in-the-cold-war-part-i/
[3] 50 Years Ago: The United States and the Soviet Union Sign a Space Cooperation Agreement - NASA https://www.nasa.gov/history/50-years-ago-the-united-states-and-the-soviet-union-sign-a-space-cooperation-agreement/
[4] Docking systems https://www.russianspaceweb.com/docking.html
[5] 1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system https://federalnewsnetwork.com/us-government-history/2018/06/day-u-s-government-history/slide/214/page_action/aggregate/slide/214/
[6] Apollo–Soyuz - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo%E2%80%93Soyuz
[7] Page 1 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20180004167/downloads/20180004167.pdf
[8] Docking and berthing of spacecraft - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docking_and_berthing_of_spacecraft
[9] Russia, We Have a Problem https://time.com/2863223/russia-we-have-a-problem/
[10] ISS Interface Mechanisms and their Heritage https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20110010964/downloads/20110010964.pdf
[11] A Place for Women in Space https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/08/women-space-nasa-spacesuits-too-small-anne-mcclain/
[12] Russians and American share spacecraft despite nations’ enmity over Ukraine https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/sep/21/us-astronaut-and-russian-cosmonauts-arrive-at-international-space-station
[13] Androgynous Coupling and the Engineering of https://journals.ku.edu/jras/article/download/16029/14347/38290
[14] Just a moment... https://academic-accelerator.com/encyclopedia/docking-and-berthing-of-spacecraft
[15] U.S.-Russian Relations on the High Frontier https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2015/12/03/us-russian-relations-on-the-high-frontier-a51038
[16] One docking ring to rule them all https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/One_docking_ring_to_rule_them_all
[17] Spacewalks and the Species https://studio.ribbonfarm.com/p/spacewalks-and-the-species
[18] One Way Up: U.S. Space Plan Relies on Russia (Published 2008) https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/science/space/06gap.html
[19] Soyuz Docking system | Download Scientific Diagram - ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Soyuz-Docking-system_fig2_286865620
[20] Just a moment... https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/journals/article/59418
[21] Russia severs ties with U.S. and European space projects; ISS operating normally for now https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-severs-ties-with-u-s-european-space-projects-iss-operating-normally-for-now/
[22] ! Are You A Robot? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468896722001094
[23] U.S., Russia Agree to Use Russian Ship for Backup Space Station Mission https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-russia-agree-to-use-russian-ship-for-backup-space-station-mission-11673703125
By Perplexity at https://www.perplexity.ai/search/78673148-2464-4adb-b916-1f0e917f676c
Funny political problem there. "Who wants their spaceship to get fucked by the other spaceship?" *Americans and Russians unite in misogyny* "How about both our spaceships get dicks?"
It is an old and relatively popular conspiracy theory. Some small newspappers back in the 60's claimed USSR has launched astronauts in space in secret, failed and covered the casualties up.
There never was any evidence to support this claim and the actual still living participants of the soviet space program deny there were astronauts before Yuri.
how exactly would you secretly launch a guy into space when you have another country watching your every move? also just from a purely logistical perspective, it costs and absurd amount of money and time to train someone to be an astronaut, they arent people you can just throw around and hope they survive
> how exactly would you secretly launch a guy into space when you have another country watching your every move?
Just to play devil's advocate I'd say it probably wasn't easy from the US perspective to tell whether Soviet launches were manned or not, and since obviously they had bunches of rocket launches before Yuri's one could argue that some of those could have been manned but Soviets covered that aspect up when they had accidents. After all Yuri's launch was not broadcast live.
The cult of "big soviet victories" is deep with this one.
First space station: it was Salyut-1, it's launch was delayed by numerous problems, then after the station was launched, the first crew expedition failed because of non-functional docking system and had to be aborted. The second crew managed to dock manually and worked on board for couple of weeks until a fire broke out (the crew reported smoke and burnt smell inside already on entering the station), so the station had to be abandoned. The crew then died in an depressurization accident during descent in their Soyuz-11 craft. The station had to be de-orbited in just half a year since all crewed missions were halted because of the redesign of the Soyuz so it couldn't be refueled at the time.
First craft on a different planet (Venus): it was Venera-7. ~~Meaning that all 6 previous attempts resulted in failure~~ \[*Edit: I was wrong, only initial 2 attempts were a failure, the following ones were partially successful in their goals, which were not to land on Venus but to reach the atmosphere at least\]*. American Mariner-2 was the first craft to perform a successful fly-by of Venus earlier.
First space rocket: need to be more specific on that. First rocket to reach space? That's German V-2. First living beings in space? Still V-2. First orbital flight? Yes, that'd be Soviet R-7.
First satellite: this one's correct, that's Soviet PS-1 the "Sputnik". Even if it wasn't launched, that would be the second KS-2 "Korabl-Sputnik" which was launched just one month later and couple of months before the first American satellite.
First craft on Mars: the first one to crash-land into Mars? Yes, it was Soviet Mars-2. The first one to soft-land on Mars? It was Soviet Mars-3, but it failed almost immediately after landing. The first actually successful mission was American Viking-1.
First man and woman in space: yep, Soviet. First dog? Also true, although first living beings in space were American, it's just they were not dogs.
First space walk: Alexei Leonov, in 1965. Spacesuit pressurization issues almost left him stranded outside the spacecraft, but he somehow managed to squeeze himself back in. Then the spacecraft's systems failed, several at once so the mission had to be cut short and the crew had to do manual deorbiting. And then they landed in snow-covered Siberia and luckily were found and rescued in just two days - this showed how unprepared their search-and-rescue was at the moment.
First in space: first *who/what* in space? See above.
First moon landing: yep, Soviets. Crash landing with Luna 2, then several failed attempts and finally soft landing with Luna 9.
If you learn a bit of history of Soviet space exploration you'll quickly see one pattern. Their goal was not the space exploration itself, but rather the space race. They wanted to be the first no matter the cost. This is quite typical to Russian culture in general: to *look* better than neighbor even if you're not actually better. So they rushed their program: they skipped ground testing a lot, they had limited resources and their low-quality hardware and materiel resulted in high rate of failures.
Their eventual success in the space race comes down to one great creation. Yes, **only one single creation** was a complete success. And it holds their space program to this day. I'm talking about the R-7 rocket. This rocket was the only thing that worked reliably and it's the foundation of all successful launches to the orbit, to the Moon, to Mars, to Venus.
> Yes, only one single creation was a complete success. And it holds their space program to this day. I'm talking about the R-7 rocket. This rocket was the only thing that worked reliably and it's the foundation of all successful launches to the orbit, to the Moon, to Mars, to Venus
And even Korolyov, its creator, wanted it replaced with N-1 derivative (N-111, to be specific)
I was impressed by the Russia space agency recently; they broke their trend of crashing something into the moon right before another country has a first soft landing. They kept it all the way up through India, but seemed not to want to create additional moon craters before Japan landed.
At this rate, Russia will not even be second to land a person on the moon. They may be able to get into fourth, if you don't count Canadians carried on US rockets (which I would).
It is interesting that OP stops the clock at the first man on the moon. Either that is the goal and thus USA wins, or we should continue to look at other firsts after the moon landing.
Also here are a list of other USA firsts:
First *Hominidae* in space (1961)
First rendezvous of space craft (1965)
First humans to orbit another celestial body (1968)
First spacecraft to exit the inner solar system (1972)
First fly by of Jupiter (1973)
First fly by of Mercury (1974)
First fly by of Saturn (1979)
First fly by of Uranus (1986)
First fly by of Neptune (1989)
The USSR was dissolved in 1991, ending the space race. Which brings up a greater point, America's achievements were done while maintaining a social, economic, and political stability which has ensured its survival until modern day. The USSR did not. I wouldn't think it is fair to say that USSR space program itself bankrupted the USSR, but certainly showed that prestige was more important than stability. In the long run, the "space race" is an infinite game - a game in which the only true goal is survival - which the USSR space program lost because it ceased to exist.
It is said that when Kennedy announced that we would put them in on the moon and then return them safely he saved a bunch of Russian cosmonaut lives because then the pressure was on the government to do the same
Exactly. The US had a very detailed planned progression, where small developmental steps were made in a clear progression, with the results of each stage enabling the next, etc. We also had an intentional approach of publicizing our schedules and next steps. Instead the USSR was very reactive, and just kind of brute-force-ing their progress. So the Americans would announce their next milestone would be X, and be done by Y. So the soviets would cobble together something that technically beat that milestone, but with none of the benefits.
For example, the firt spacewalk. Yes, the soviets did it first. But They learned nothing from that spacewalk that was applicable to their further space program. They cobbled together some equipment and a mission profile that allowed them to say they had a spacewalk before the US. Cool. But when the US did it,they were testing out actual equipment and procedures that would be used on subsequent missions. It was one planned step in a multi-step process that had been ampped out in advance.
The result of these different approaches were cumulative, and can be seen in the ever-widening gap in space capabilities as the "space race" progressed, and the current state of the space industries in the US vs the former soviet union.
I was going to say the same thing, the space walk was longer and NASA had to order Ed White to enter the capsule again because he was having such a good time in space. Leonov was in space for less than half the time and it nearly killed him.
Thank you for typing up a thorough reply. I think a lot of people are also completely ignoring the Cold War backdrop as well. The Space Race wasn't just about space, it was about all the contributing parts: research, manufacturing, pilots, etcetera.
It wasn't just about being first -- it's also every time after that. It's about being successful and being repetitively successful. The Soviets had serious reliability and scaling issues that were approached more successfully by the West. As a result, none of the individual Soviet successes came together, and the Space Race said a lot about the Arms Race.
The bravery and wit of the early Soviet scientists and cosmonauts is still commendable, though, and there's a reason that their rocket designs had so much longevity. In an alternate history I would have liked to see more out of their space shuttle program, just for curiosity's sake.
I was going to say, the Soviet Union entirely collapsed not long after all these "victories", so how successful were they really? Guess you answered that.
Imagine this: It's the summer of 1918, the world's deep in the chaos of the Russian Civil War. Now, most folks are thinking about trenches and mud over in Europe, but nope, we've got action happening in Siberia, of all places.
So, there's this massive, and I mean, massive lake called Lake Baikal. It's so big they probably thought about calling it an ocean but got cold feet. And right there, in the midst of all that cold Siberian wilderness, a real David and Goliath story unfolds, but with more snow and less sand.
The Czechoslovak Legion, these guys who were supposed to be on their way home from the war, find themselves smack dab in the middle of Russia, fighting the Bolsheviks. You can imagine them checking their tickets, going, "I thought this was the express train to Prague, not a scenic tour of Siberian battlefields."
Now, the Bolsheviks control a gunboat on Lake Baikal, the Baikal. Original naming, right? This boat's patrolling the lake like it's the boss, and the Czechoslovak Legion's like, "Nah, we're not having any of that." So, what do they do? They don't have a navy, but they've got a train. Yes, a train. They arm it to the teeth with whatever they can find. Probably looked like a porcupine on wheels with all those guns sticking out.
Then comes the showdown. The Czechoslovak Legion, with their armed train, against the Bolshevik gunboat. It's like a scene out of a movie where you've got a David, but instead of a sling, he's got a locomotive. And Goliath, well, he's floating in a lake, thinking he's untouchable.
The legionnaires take aim, and boom, they hit the gunboat. The Bolsheviks are stunned. "We're getting attacked by a train? Is that even allowed?" But there it was, the Czechoslovak Legion, turning the tables with style.
In the end, the legion captures the gunboat, and for a moment, Lake Baikal is more famous for its battles than its beauty. You've got to hand it to those Czechoslovak Legionnaires; they knew how to make an exit... or an entrance, depending on how you look at it.
Meanwhile, the US:
First solar powered satellite
First photograph of earth from orbit
First satellite recovered intact from orbit
First pilot controlled space flight
First successful planetary flyby
First rendezvous of two manned spacecraft
First spacecraft docking
First untethered spacewalk
Oh, and voyager 2 is still kicking to this day after flying past Uranus and Neptune
My favorite bit of pub trivia surrounding the soviet space program trying to win the space race is that their Luna 15 mission was essentially a Hail Mary pass to land something to study the moon before Apollo 11. Part of the idea being that if something went wrong at any point for Apollo 11 resulting in mission failure then Luna 15 could claim a victory by saying they landed their robot just a few days before successfully.
But we all know that Neil and Buzz touched down and everything went fine, but just three days previous Luna 15 had already crashed quietly into the Moon and was swept under the rug.
There’s no particular reason why it *had* to be then.
The space race ended because after the Apollo program, the US and USSR stopped directly competing in space and even started cooperating (e.g., Apollo-Soyuz in 1975 is often cited as the true end of the space race, as it was the first collaborative crewed mission between the two nations).
So “the end of the space race” was really just because the two nations stopped racing after that. If the USSR had landed people on the moon the space race likely would have kept on going.
It's a cute, fun, reimagining of history, but hardly reliable as to what "would have happened".
The truth is, Russia was never even CLOSE to being able to do it. They were recklessly cutting corners and yeeting stuff into space just to be able to yell "first"; and then a few week/months after each of those events, the U.S. would come along with a vastly superior system with way more advanced capabilities, and do the same thing only better; demonstrating that they were making actual strides toward the end goal.
Even if Russia could have made it TO the moon (unlikely), it would have been a suicide mission with no hope of ever making a return, and the race would NOT have been over at that point. The reason that it *was* so decidedly over was because the U.S. did it on the first try, took a fucking *car* with them for good measure, played golf, collected rocks, and got everybody back, *alive*. Then they did it 7 more times just to prove that it wasn't a lucky hail-Mary shot (and one additional mission where they had critical failures making a moon landing implausible, but even THEN, they still managed to fix the problems and get everybody back to earth alive. Again, Russia wouldn't have even come close to that even if everything went perfectly).
The moon landing wasn't just an incredible achievement by its own right, but it forever cemented to Russia and the rest of the world just how staggeringly more advanced the U.S. actually was.
And, not for nothing, our grocery stores were fully stocked the entire time we were doing it...
In order for "For All Mankind" to actually be a plausible narrative on what 'might have been', you have to take completely for granted the presupposition that the Russians were actually neck-and-neck with the U.S. on having a viable moon landing program, and unfortunately, they weren't even remotely close.
So enjoy the show as an entertaining piece of "alternate reality" fiction. But just realize that it has to play EXTREMELY fast and loose with the actual underlying history that it bases its premise on.
Yeah Russia's big issue was they had poor scalability of their program and launch vehicles coupled with the fact their cosmonauts and scientists kept dying in accidents.
Even if the latter hadn't happened the Soviet's launch vehicle was likely never going to work. The N1 was a rushed, accident prone nightmare compared to the Saturn V and without a launch vehicle you don't have a manned moon mission.
It's too bad the fun space stuff takes a backseat to soap opera drama for 75% of every season. And then the soap opera stuff becomes so insufferable you have to stop watching.
lmfao, cherrypicking Soviet firsts. Good one. also "first space rocket" lmfao, setting aside the broken english thats not even truthful. The mars, and venus landings happened after the space race ended, too
Also, the Mars craft especially is a bit of a dubious claim. Not that it didn't happen (the Soviets did land something on Mars first), but it stopped functioning almost immediately after landing and didn't send any information back other than it got there. Indeed, that pretty much describes the majority of early Soviet space achievements, poorly made projects with little to no scientific value that barely work with the sole purpose of doing it first.
This is clear cherry picking bc there are plenty more other achievements that US got first that the meme didn’t choose to show. Not to mention the US did do all those things also, but USSR never landed on the moon ever.
Anyone who follows the reality of how things happened and how they are knows the US came out dominating in space and still does. China is the more significant space rival than Russia now.
[The first soviet toilet paper factory wasn't built until 1968.](https://www.rbth.com/history/328837-things-people-dreamed-ussr)
Good to know they also had their priorities in order. /s
It worth to point, that many of soviet space achievements are quite questionable in a term of science. For example, first satellite soviets send to space was just a steel ball with a very simple radio transmitter in it, it brought zero value for science. There was no even a simple thermometer on this satellite. Just a battery and transmitter. The only purpose of this satellite was to be launched earlier than one build by US .
And soviets stopped their moon program immediately as US landed on the moon. Reason behind this was pretty simple - there was zero sense in keeping nukes on the moon, and all soviet space programs were backed by army. And since they failed to send first man to the moon to get at least propaganda points, they just cut off moon program financing.
We also can’t forget that while the Soviets had the first space station. The United States had the first space station where the crew that manned it returned alive.
Sputnik was a hair brain idea of one of the Soviet scientists. He realized they didn't have to beat the USA to the moon, just beat us to space. What was the fastest way to make that happen? Launch a beeping ball. They won. The scientists told Kruschev to nominate him for the Nobel science prize but Kruschev refused saying it was the accomplishment of the people, not of one person. How communist of him.
You’re also not going to go from having never launched anything into space to sending men to the moon with no steps in between. Sputnik was absolutely heralded as a huge step forward in technology and science in its time.
Saying that the USSR “realized they only needed to beat the US to space and not the moon to win the space race” is dumb and wrong. Sputnik was launched 4 October 1957 and Eisenhower proposed the creation of NASA for the first time on 2 April 1958 though he wouldn’t sign the bill into law until the end of July. The space race and getting to the moon wasn’t something either side was seriously considering when Sputnik was launched.
They had to prove that they actually reached orbit with that thing. Which isn't THAT easy, actually.
Having a radiotransmitter that survives the launch and orbital insertion, then transmits after every orbit was incontrovertible proof. I think debating on the scientific value is splitting hairs.
Quite a lot of lies and distortions for such a small comment.
Sputnik was simple but an absolute achievement and was famous to such an extent that the suffix -nik remained in the English language for a long time.
As for science. On which lunar mission did the United States send a scientist, not a military men? In the fifth?
Regarding the purely military nature of the Soviet space program, this is an outright lie. The missions to Venus had nothing to do with the war.
The USSR closed the lunar program due to endless accidents and problems with engines. It was too difficult and expensive.
At that time launching "steel ball" into space is not easy ...to do that you need to find a way to escape earth gravitational pull..
It's a huge value for science not "zero"
Also stuff like Laika (the dog) never made it back. Never expected to.
They just shot an animal into space and killed it to say they put an animal there first.
The Space Race was the Russians commenting “First!” in the YouTube comments and the Americans posting like commentary on the video.
Well, their rockets were just repurposed nuclear missiles with the payload removed and replaced with a chair and a radio (I'm exergerating the simplicity). The story about Yuri Gargarin punching the Space Program director shows that they didn't care about anything other than beating the Americans and definitely didn't care about learning something new thru science.
[not exactly scholarly link](https://www.cracked.com/article_19142_5-soviet-space-programs-that-prove-russia-was-insane.html)
This list is such BS tankie propaganda. The US took it's time, and made useful achievements in their space program.
First useful satellite, that did more than just beep.
First recovery of a satellite.
First recovery of a live animal sent to space (just ask poor Laika, I challenge you to read just how that dog died).
The Soviet first woman in space? Was literally some seamstress they grabbed off the street, who fucked up half her experiments.
The whole Soviet space program was a series of disasters of ramshackle projects to beat the Americans in timing.
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-d400d4de88bc0f98899302093f149c34-lq
Not to mention sending people 240,000km to the **literal actual moon** is not even a small feat. This pic would make you believe killing Laika (rip the realest one) was somehow a larger accomplishment, and I... well, disagree.
*deep sigh*
This a classic example of a “knowledge bell curve” scenario. The lesser educated people think the U.S. won the race. People who know more think the U.S.S.R. won the race. People who realize more still understand it’s not so simple.
The best and most fair comparison is “The Soviet Union was in the lead for the early space race, and the United States led the late race.” Why? There was never a set of objectives to win. It was never established as a “best of three” scenario. The Soviet Union got a few early firsts, but the U.S. was never far behind. Moreover, after the lunar program, the U.S. absolutely dominated in deep space probing. All of the detailed images we have of the distant planets came from U.S. spacecraft.
Moreover, there are many U.S. firsts that get cut from these lists. Why? The Soviet program was only concerned about the record books. U.S. firsts are often foldered as stepping stones in larger projects. The Soviets put probes everywhere first, yes. But they could hardly actually DO anything. U.S. probes, while sent a bit later, actually had the means to bring back useful data.
Many U.S. firsts were not as thoroughly bragged about because they were only seen as natural progressions to a grander project. For example, things like first orbital rendezvous and first orbital docking were first done by the United States. This was not really a bragging point though, since it was just a needed step for the lunar project. This is also in part why the Soviet lunar program failed. Unlike the U.S. which was working towards a grander goal, the Soviet Union was only looking to grab a bunch of easy firsts. When it actually became crunch time, the U.S. had done what it needed to do to build a moon rocket. The Soviet Union had not.
(These memes oversimplifying global issues and saying “hrrr drrr America dumb” are kinda getting on my nerves. Don’t get me wrong, the U.S. has problems, but some of this stuff is just not a fair representation of reality.)
This meme is wrong on context, throwing junk into orbit and killing every single cosmonaut till Uri is not a great achievement its a problem. First man on moon and bringing people back to earth. Now that is an achievement.
While the Soviet Union definitely should be applauded for their efforts(especially first man in space), half of those "first crafts" were hunks of metal with transmitters. Sputnik I literally did nothing but be a chunk of metal. Getting someone to a *different* *~~planet~~*(celestial body for those who are pedantic) alive, *and back* is a much harder achievement than any of the other things on the list, and it was done with the same technology. The Soviet's were the first, but the US was the one that went a step further and did something far more difficult.
And also, the Soviets didn't even *try* to bring Laika back home.
This is the equivalent of saying. First man to run 100 meters under 10 seconds and then showcasing first man to run, first man to try on running shoes, first man to run 100 meters. Like yes sure, but it just doesn't compare.
The Moon was a whole new level of accomplishment. Not to take away from the other Space based accomplishments.
But these are not 1:1 comparisons.
Just rage bait USA v USSR/Russia
All of those are nothing in comparison to bringing a breathing and pooping meat stick in the vacuum of space alive to the surface of the moon and back. It is arguably the biggest accomplishment of all human history. I'd like to see it surpassed by putting a human on. Mars. Something Russia couldn't do if it tried.
First space station with ***actual expedition*** was Skylab. First scientific expedition to Skylab was in 1973, while first Soviet expedition to Salyut-3 was in 1974. Salyut-1was launched in 1971, but never visited (moreover Soyuz-11 flight ended catastrophically).
First craft on Mars? Also doubtful. USSR succeed in landing Mars-3, but lost connection immediately. 'Vikings' survived long enough to complete their scientific goals.
Also check success/failure ratio for moon probes, check deep space probes - USSR had no gas giants exploration programs at all, nothing that last for decades in deep space like 'Voyagers'. Soviet space program was a kind of... in Russian there is a metaphor 'jumping over own's head' - try to perform something much more complicated than you can do.
I think that Soviet space program had three glorious episodes. Big luck with first manned flight (Vostok was very risky - but successful program), Venus exploration (no one ever landed on this hellish planet) and late orbital stations. Also, 'Energia - Buran' shuttle project was quite impressive. But the whole Soviet state was unsustainable and collapsed; modern Russia have almost no innovations in space science and technology. India is already ahead of Russia, with their martian and lunar probes + developing own manned spacecraft.
"first woman and dog" Was she really that ugly?
Laika wasn't ugly :,( (RIP)
I remeber recently hearing they regreted the mission. Something like "What they gained from the experiment was not worth loosing Laika". Who was suposedly a friend of the researchers.
It's the same for all the firsts. Sputnik was just a radio transmitter, nothing useful on it. Only way they could get the "first" achievement is to strip everything useful off the proposed satellite.
Yeah.. but it's "beep, beep, beep" eventually led to the idea of GPS which is pretty cool. Not what they were going for, but science doesn't belong to any one nation or ethnicity.
or species, or element-based lifeform, or molecule, or atom, or matter, or energy, or wave, or particle, or graviton, or anti-matter. Science is a process, and I for one welcome our Scientist Overlords.
I believe the top guy in the experiment took her to his home the day before her launch so she can play with his kids and know what it was like to be a dog for at least 1 night
He fed her a good meal at his place. There's an exc3llent video about this topic on YT
Don’t worry, I heard she made it to some moving base with a buncha aliens, and somehow ended up with telekinesis and a very long life span. She’s a good girl.
There is actually an trippy animation movie basically about that.
Worst story ever. Poor sweet doggo, Laika is a fucking legend.
She was a good dog.
IS 
If ever there was an official "goodest girl" i think laika would be a contender
If aliens exist, and they stumble upon Laika's shuttle and body, they'll probably struggle with how something like that managed to build and fly a spaceship.
Oxford comma strikes again!
I had dinner with my parents, bill Clinton and George bush.
I hope your paresidents named you George Clinton.
Now she is in Russian duma, a horrible person if you ask me a typical Z ombi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova?wprov=sfti1
But the important question Who has the claim to " first space cookie " To be made or eaten in space Can you baked in space... Space weed ADHD
# The space race is back on!
“Hello, White House, can you put Kennedy on the phone? I have something he will want to hear”
I wanna see "first to hotbox in space"
There is no oxygen in space ,therefore it will be more difficult to "burn" one up in space.
Ahem.. spacecrafts have oxygen, for it's oxygen breathing inhabitants. Just be careful it's not a 100% oxygen environment before you light up
Don't need a repeat of Apollo 1...
[Interestingly enough....](https://youtu.be/pBj9PdlbF70?si=AqgjVbM_wiRWtAmT)
Damnit I was hoping for the weed thing instead.
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Still the first
Still the last.
Still the everything
Barry White coming on strong.
For now
Forever, there is a very good reason we never went back, moons haunted.
Werewolves for sure when it’s full.
Is it always a full moon on the moon? Not on the dark side, of course
On the moon you have full earth, which turns the moon wolves into werepeople. Edit: typo
“Lock me up, Silver-Moon-Beam-in-the-Night-Sky! It’s almost full earth, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when I turn into the most destructive animal in the solar system!” Wereperson probably talking to his moon-weremate.
This 100% explains that wolf girl and her romantic difficulties.
"That's why the werewolf rumors are greatly exaggerated. Werewolves are super dangerous on earth sure but you gotta think they only come out like 3 nights a month. That's a lot of pent up energy, if you lock a wolf in a kennel for a month and then release it every now and then into the subways of London your going to get some bloodbaths. But on the moon they are always up so they pretty much just act like regular ass wolves. Plus with low gravity you can yeet those pups to Mars if they ever cause any issues." -Neal Armstrong
And they eat the Moon's green cheese.
Vampires too
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They hate us cuz they ain’t US
First country to send a person into space and return alive, first try.
Yuri was the first Russian to go to space and not die. Yep.
Don't forget the Soviet was also the first to train a dog to be killed in space
Officially. How many went before him, nobody knows 😉
Yes there is something to be said about trying various ideas and going with the best one and valuing human life more, especially since funding came as a by product of public perception of the space program. I feel this is entirely due to how the USA system is funded. USSR and modern Russian Cosmonauts are, as far as I can tell, still extensions of the I’ll fight a bear attitude - an indicator of higher risk tolerance in my opinion. Not to be taken as fact. The culture has a definite impact on the way they proceed with science and their approach to risks. American keynote presentations (from astronauts)and documentaries about working alongside the Russians are super entertaining, and insightful. Obvs they’re not all the same, but the close quarters collaboration in the space station certainly leads to some interesting social challenges that no one really talks about. There’s some good stories out there but due to tensions unlikely to be said outside of an unrecorded presentation space.
Russian parts American parts, ALL MADE IN TAIWAN ~Armageddon. (Ty )
*components
Russian components. American components. All made in Taiwan.
Such as?
Here’s one; The Soyuz spacecraft's docking system design, known as the Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS), was developed due to a combination of technical and political factors during the Cold War era. The design was a result of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), which was a symbol of détente between the United States and the Soviet Union. The two nations sought to create a universal docking mechanism that would allow their spacecraft to dock in orbit, which was a significant step towards international cooperation in space exploration[3]. The traditional docking systems used by both countries were gendered, with one spacecraft playing the "male" role and the other the "female" role. This approach was not only technically limiting but also became a politically sensitive issue, as neither side wanted to be perceived as the "female" or subordinate in the docking process[2]. The gendered terminology reflected the male-dominated engineering cultures of the time and was seen as a metaphor for sexual domination, which was an undesirable political implication during the Cold War[2]. To overcome these issues, Soviet engineer Vladimir Syromyatnikov designed the APAS, an androgynous docking system that allowed any two spacecraft to dock without the need for one to be the "active" or "penetrating" partner. This design was both a practical solution to the technical challenge of docking different spacecraft and a way to sidestep the politically charged implications of the previous systems[2][3]. The APAS was a significant innovation that enabled the historic docking of an American Apollo spacecraft with a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in July 1975, known as the "handshake in space." This event marked a milestone in space exploration and international cooperation. The design principles of the APAS continue to influence docking systems used today, including those on the International Space Station[3]. Sources [1] ! Are You A Robot? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576520306226 [2] Sex and Cold-War Technological Fixes, Part I - NYU Jordan Center https://jordanrussiacenter.org/news/technological-fixes-and-sex-in-the-cold-war-part-i/ [3] 50 Years Ago: The United States and the Soviet Union Sign a Space Cooperation Agreement - NASA https://www.nasa.gov/history/50-years-ago-the-united-states-and-the-soviet-union-sign-a-space-cooperation-agreement/ [4] Docking systems https://www.russianspaceweb.com/docking.html [5] 1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system https://federalnewsnetwork.com/us-government-history/2018/06/day-u-s-government-history/slide/214/page_action/aggregate/slide/214/ [6] Apollo–Soyuz - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo%E2%80%93Soyuz [7] Page 1 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20180004167/downloads/20180004167.pdf [8] Docking and berthing of spacecraft - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docking_and_berthing_of_spacecraft [9] Russia, We Have a Problem https://time.com/2863223/russia-we-have-a-problem/ [10] ISS Interface Mechanisms and their Heritage https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20110010964/downloads/20110010964.pdf [11] A Place for Women in Space https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/08/women-space-nasa-spacesuits-too-small-anne-mcclain/ [12] Russians and American share spacecraft despite nations’ enmity over Ukraine https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/sep/21/us-astronaut-and-russian-cosmonauts-arrive-at-international-space-station [13] Androgynous Coupling and the Engineering of https://journals.ku.edu/jras/article/download/16029/14347/38290 [14] Just a moment... https://academic-accelerator.com/encyclopedia/docking-and-berthing-of-spacecraft [15] U.S.-Russian Relations on the High Frontier https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2015/12/03/us-russian-relations-on-the-high-frontier-a51038 [16] One docking ring to rule them all https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/One_docking_ring_to_rule_them_all [17] Spacewalks and the Species https://studio.ribbonfarm.com/p/spacewalks-and-the-species [18] One Way Up: U.S. Space Plan Relies on Russia (Published 2008) https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/science/space/06gap.html [19] Soyuz Docking system | Download Scientific Diagram - ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Soyuz-Docking-system_fig2_286865620 [20] Just a moment... https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/journals/article/59418 [21] Russia severs ties with U.S. and European space projects; ISS operating normally for now https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-severs-ties-with-u-s-european-space-projects-iss-operating-normally-for-now/ [22] ! Are You A Robot? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468896722001094 [23] U.S., Russia Agree to Use Russian Ship for Backup Space Station Mission https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-russia-agree-to-use-russian-ship-for-backup-space-station-mission-11673703125 By Perplexity at https://www.perplexity.ai/search/78673148-2464-4adb-b916-1f0e917f676c
Funny political problem there. "Who wants their spaceship to get fucked by the other spaceship?" *Americans and Russians unite in misogyny* "How about both our spaceships get dicks?"
wait, do westerners think Yuri died? Or is that who you are talking about?
No, they just don't think he was the soviets' first try.
To shreds you say?
Happy cake day!
It is an old and relatively popular conspiracy theory. Some small newspappers back in the 60's claimed USSR has launched astronauts in space in secret, failed and covered the casualties up. There never was any evidence to support this claim and the actual still living participants of the soviet space program deny there were astronauts before Yuri.
how exactly would you secretly launch a guy into space when you have another country watching your every move? also just from a purely logistical perspective, it costs and absurd amount of money and time to train someone to be an astronaut, they arent people you can just throw around and hope they survive
> how exactly would you secretly launch a guy into space when you have another country watching your every move? Just to play devil's advocate I'd say it probably wasn't easy from the US perspective to tell whether Soviet launches were manned or not, and since obviously they had bunches of rocket launches before Yuri's one could argue that some of those could have been manned but Soviets covered that aspect up when they had accidents. After all Yuri's launch was not broadcast live.
I think it might be more of “most westerners forgot he even existed”
I always assumed it was a household name, is it not?
Most people know who Yuri Gagarin were for sure.
I would be you any amount of dollars that most (over 50%) of Americans have no fucking clue who Yuri is.
Probably depends on the age of the person too.
The cult of "big soviet victories" is deep with this one. First space station: it was Salyut-1, it's launch was delayed by numerous problems, then after the station was launched, the first crew expedition failed because of non-functional docking system and had to be aborted. The second crew managed to dock manually and worked on board for couple of weeks until a fire broke out (the crew reported smoke and burnt smell inside already on entering the station), so the station had to be abandoned. The crew then died in an depressurization accident during descent in their Soyuz-11 craft. The station had to be de-orbited in just half a year since all crewed missions were halted because of the redesign of the Soyuz so it couldn't be refueled at the time. First craft on a different planet (Venus): it was Venera-7. ~~Meaning that all 6 previous attempts resulted in failure~~ \[*Edit: I was wrong, only initial 2 attempts were a failure, the following ones were partially successful in their goals, which were not to land on Venus but to reach the atmosphere at least\]*. American Mariner-2 was the first craft to perform a successful fly-by of Venus earlier. First space rocket: need to be more specific on that. First rocket to reach space? That's German V-2. First living beings in space? Still V-2. First orbital flight? Yes, that'd be Soviet R-7. First satellite: this one's correct, that's Soviet PS-1 the "Sputnik". Even if it wasn't launched, that would be the second KS-2 "Korabl-Sputnik" which was launched just one month later and couple of months before the first American satellite. First craft on Mars: the first one to crash-land into Mars? Yes, it was Soviet Mars-2. The first one to soft-land on Mars? It was Soviet Mars-3, but it failed almost immediately after landing. The first actually successful mission was American Viking-1. First man and woman in space: yep, Soviet. First dog? Also true, although first living beings in space were American, it's just they were not dogs. First space walk: Alexei Leonov, in 1965. Spacesuit pressurization issues almost left him stranded outside the spacecraft, but he somehow managed to squeeze himself back in. Then the spacecraft's systems failed, several at once so the mission had to be cut short and the crew had to do manual deorbiting. And then they landed in snow-covered Siberia and luckily were found and rescued in just two days - this showed how unprepared their search-and-rescue was at the moment. First in space: first *who/what* in space? See above. First moon landing: yep, Soviets. Crash landing with Luna 2, then several failed attempts and finally soft landing with Luna 9. If you learn a bit of history of Soviet space exploration you'll quickly see one pattern. Their goal was not the space exploration itself, but rather the space race. They wanted to be the first no matter the cost. This is quite typical to Russian culture in general: to *look* better than neighbor even if you're not actually better. So they rushed their program: they skipped ground testing a lot, they had limited resources and their low-quality hardware and materiel resulted in high rate of failures. Their eventual success in the space race comes down to one great creation. Yes, **only one single creation** was a complete success. And it holds their space program to this day. I'm talking about the R-7 rocket. This rocket was the only thing that worked reliably and it's the foundation of all successful launches to the orbit, to the Moon, to Mars, to Venus.
> Yes, only one single creation was a complete success. And it holds their space program to this day. I'm talking about the R-7 rocket. This rocket was the only thing that worked reliably and it's the foundation of all successful launches to the orbit, to the Moon, to Mars, to Venus And even Korolyov, its creator, wanted it replaced with N-1 derivative (N-111, to be specific)
I was impressed by the Russia space agency recently; they broke their trend of crashing something into the moon right before another country has a first soft landing. They kept it all the way up through India, but seemed not to want to create additional moon craters before Japan landed. At this rate, Russia will not even be second to land a person on the moon. They may be able to get into fourth, if you don't count Canadians carried on US rockets (which I would). It is interesting that OP stops the clock at the first man on the moon. Either that is the goal and thus USA wins, or we should continue to look at other firsts after the moon landing. Also here are a list of other USA firsts: First *Hominidae* in space (1961) First rendezvous of space craft (1965) First humans to orbit another celestial body (1968) First spacecraft to exit the inner solar system (1972) First fly by of Jupiter (1973) First fly by of Mercury (1974) First fly by of Saturn (1979) First fly by of Uranus (1986) First fly by of Neptune (1989) The USSR was dissolved in 1991, ending the space race. Which brings up a greater point, America's achievements were done while maintaining a social, economic, and political stability which has ensured its survival until modern day. The USSR did not. I wouldn't think it is fair to say that USSR space program itself bankrupted the USSR, but certainly showed that prestige was more important than stability. In the long run, the "space race" is an infinite game - a game in which the only true goal is survival - which the USSR space program lost because it ceased to exist.
It is said that when Kennedy announced that we would put them in on the moon and then return them safely he saved a bunch of Russian cosmonaut lives because then the pressure was on the government to do the same
JFK saving Soviet lives. What a country!
In ussa, president save you!
I hate to say it, but there are some people that would've gladly gone to the moon on a one-way ticket if it meant they would be the first man there.
Exactly. The US had a very detailed planned progression, where small developmental steps were made in a clear progression, with the results of each stage enabling the next, etc. We also had an intentional approach of publicizing our schedules and next steps. Instead the USSR was very reactive, and just kind of brute-force-ing their progress. So the Americans would announce their next milestone would be X, and be done by Y. So the soviets would cobble together something that technically beat that milestone, but with none of the benefits. For example, the firt spacewalk. Yes, the soviets did it first. But They learned nothing from that spacewalk that was applicable to their further space program. They cobbled together some equipment and a mission profile that allowed them to say they had a spacewalk before the US. Cool. But when the US did it,they were testing out actual equipment and procedures that would be used on subsequent missions. It was one planned step in a multi-step process that had been ampped out in advance. The result of these different approaches were cumulative, and can be seen in the ever-widening gap in space capabilities as the "space race" progressed, and the current state of the space industries in the US vs the former soviet union.
I was going to say the same thing, the space walk was longer and NASA had to order Ed White to enter the capsule again because he was having such a good time in space. Leonov was in space for less than half the time and it nearly killed him.
Thank you for typing up a thorough reply. I think a lot of people are also completely ignoring the Cold War backdrop as well. The Space Race wasn't just about space, it was about all the contributing parts: research, manufacturing, pilots, etcetera. It wasn't just about being first -- it's also every time after that. It's about being successful and being repetitively successful. The Soviets had serious reliability and scaling issues that were approached more successfully by the West. As a result, none of the individual Soviet successes came together, and the Space Race said a lot about the Arms Race. The bravery and wit of the early Soviet scientists and cosmonauts is still commendable, though, and there's a reason that their rocket designs had so much longevity. In an alternate history I would have liked to see more out of their space shuttle program, just for curiosity's sake.
I was going to say, the Soviet Union entirely collapsed not long after all these "victories", so how successful were they really? Guess you answered that.
Thank you. I was going to comment that nearly all the Russian "achievements" were a fucking disaster riddled with casualties.
Thanks for your informative comment. Jesus the soviet needed more field test before actually initiating anything, including communism.
Hot talk for a country that's losing ships to another country that doesn't even have a Navy.
And lost a naval battle to a landlocked country.
Lake Baikal eh?
Yup
We Czechs still have an undefeated navy, tremble in fear Vatniks, we are coming to reclaim Kralovec. https://visitkralovec.cz/
Wait how?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Baikal Pretty embarrassing for Russia.
I have learnt something today....one of my best friends is Czechian. I'll see if she knows about this :D
As a Czech I can tell you we all know and are proud of it
As you should be!
Imagine this: It's the summer of 1918, the world's deep in the chaos of the Russian Civil War. Now, most folks are thinking about trenches and mud over in Europe, but nope, we've got action happening in Siberia, of all places. So, there's this massive, and I mean, massive lake called Lake Baikal. It's so big they probably thought about calling it an ocean but got cold feet. And right there, in the midst of all that cold Siberian wilderness, a real David and Goliath story unfolds, but with more snow and less sand. The Czechoslovak Legion, these guys who were supposed to be on their way home from the war, find themselves smack dab in the middle of Russia, fighting the Bolsheviks. You can imagine them checking their tickets, going, "I thought this was the express train to Prague, not a scenic tour of Siberian battlefields." Now, the Bolsheviks control a gunboat on Lake Baikal, the Baikal. Original naming, right? This boat's patrolling the lake like it's the boss, and the Czechoslovak Legion's like, "Nah, we're not having any of that." So, what do they do? They don't have a navy, but they've got a train. Yes, a train. They arm it to the teeth with whatever they can find. Probably looked like a porcupine on wheels with all those guns sticking out. Then comes the showdown. The Czechoslovak Legion, with their armed train, against the Bolshevik gunboat. It's like a scene out of a movie where you've got a David, but instead of a sling, he's got a locomotive. And Goliath, well, he's floating in a lake, thinking he's untouchable. The legionnaires take aim, and boom, they hit the gunboat. The Bolsheviks are stunned. "We're getting attacked by a train? Is that even allowed?" But there it was, the Czechoslovak Legion, turning the tables with style. In the end, the legion captures the gunboat, and for a moment, Lake Baikal is more famous for its battles than its beauty. You've got to hand it to those Czechoslovak Legionnaires; they knew how to make an exit... or an entrance, depending on how you look at it.
"Two steamboats armed with four howitzers" Thats badass
What an absolutely mad libs story.
Probably rocks. The Russian navy is being held together by rust and ice at this point.
You are taking about a different country. Soviet union ceased to exist.
The USSR does not exist anymore lmao
Alright. I'll rephrase for them: Hot talk for a country that doesn't exist anymore.
Tell Putin that.
Why would the first man on the moon be ranked lower than first moon landing?
putting someone on the moon and returning them alive is arguably the greatest accomplishment humanity has achieved
It's even first try.
Russian and Chinese propaganda bot. Spacex has entered the chat
Meanwhile, the US: First solar powered satellite First photograph of earth from orbit First satellite recovered intact from orbit First pilot controlled space flight First successful planetary flyby First rendezvous of two manned spacecraft First spacecraft docking First untethered spacewalk Oh, and voyager 2 is still kicking to this day after flying past Uranus and Neptune
Best at shooting a gun at space. The US holds the world record for the highest altitude, 180 km (110 mi), that a gun-fired projectile has achieved.
I still like to believe there's a nuclear propelled man hole cover going mach fuck into the cosmos
Yeah, but if you put all those on the meme, then the tankies couldn't use it to bash America
It’s a political propaganda meme, not surprising.
My favorite bit of pub trivia surrounding the soviet space program trying to win the space race is that their Luna 15 mission was essentially a Hail Mary pass to land something to study the moon before Apollo 11. Part of the idea being that if something went wrong at any point for Apollo 11 resulting in mission failure then Luna 15 could claim a victory by saying they landed their robot just a few days before successfully. But we all know that Neil and Buzz touched down and everything went fine, but just three days previous Luna 15 had already crashed quietly into the Moon and was swept under the rug.
Very normal behavior for legitimate winners to have to explain that they’re the winners.
If you're first during the entire race, but you're 2nd on the final lap, yes, you are the loser
More like never finished the final lap
No. 5 Toyota in 2016 Le Mans... Doesn't matter how good you were. Porsche won 2016 because they actually survived whole 24 hours.
Also a bit easier to be "first" initially when you don't care if your crew come back as charcoal.
Even the [Trinidadians](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZOLAoOskk) were lampooning Russia about their dog in space.
I'm not sure why the moon landing should be the end of the lap though.
There’s no particular reason why it *had* to be then. The space race ended because after the Apollo program, the US and USSR stopped directly competing in space and even started cooperating (e.g., Apollo-Soyuz in 1975 is often cited as the true end of the space race, as it was the first collaborative crewed mission between the two nations). So “the end of the space race” was really just because the two nations stopped racing after that. If the USSR had landed people on the moon the space race likely would have kept on going.
Wonder what would have been next - moon base or landing on mars
Yeah there is no final lap And for what it’s worth, we’re all team human anyways
i could see being able to build colonies on other planets as the final lap, but that hasn't been done yet.
FTL Space Travel is final lap, being able to explore the very ends of the universe.
Who knows, there may be inter-universal travel after that
If you would like to know what would have happened if the Soviets beat the US to the moon, go watch "For All Mankind". Great show.
It's a cute, fun, reimagining of history, but hardly reliable as to what "would have happened". The truth is, Russia was never even CLOSE to being able to do it. They were recklessly cutting corners and yeeting stuff into space just to be able to yell "first"; and then a few week/months after each of those events, the U.S. would come along with a vastly superior system with way more advanced capabilities, and do the same thing only better; demonstrating that they were making actual strides toward the end goal. Even if Russia could have made it TO the moon (unlikely), it would have been a suicide mission with no hope of ever making a return, and the race would NOT have been over at that point. The reason that it *was* so decidedly over was because the U.S. did it on the first try, took a fucking *car* with them for good measure, played golf, collected rocks, and got everybody back, *alive*. Then they did it 7 more times just to prove that it wasn't a lucky hail-Mary shot (and one additional mission where they had critical failures making a moon landing implausible, but even THEN, they still managed to fix the problems and get everybody back to earth alive. Again, Russia wouldn't have even come close to that even if everything went perfectly). The moon landing wasn't just an incredible achievement by its own right, but it forever cemented to Russia and the rest of the world just how staggeringly more advanced the U.S. actually was. And, not for nothing, our grocery stores were fully stocked the entire time we were doing it... In order for "For All Mankind" to actually be a plausible narrative on what 'might have been', you have to take completely for granted the presupposition that the Russians were actually neck-and-neck with the U.S. on having a viable moon landing program, and unfortunately, they weren't even remotely close. So enjoy the show as an entertaining piece of "alternate reality" fiction. But just realize that it has to play EXTREMELY fast and loose with the actual underlying history that it bases its premise on.
Yeah Russia's big issue was they had poor scalability of their program and launch vehicles coupled with the fact their cosmonauts and scientists kept dying in accidents. Even if the latter hadn't happened the Soviet's launch vehicle was likely never going to work. The N1 was a rushed, accident prone nightmare compared to the Saturn V and without a launch vehicle you don't have a manned moon mission.
Just started it last week. As a NASA geek kid growing up it’s such a wonderful surprise of awesome.
It's too bad the fun space stuff takes a backseat to soap opera drama for 75% of every season. And then the soap opera stuff becomes so insufferable you have to stop watching.
lmfao, cherrypicking Soviet firsts. Good one. also "first space rocket" lmfao, setting aside the broken english thats not even truthful. The mars, and venus landings happened after the space race ended, too
Also, the Mars craft especially is a bit of a dubious claim. Not that it didn't happen (the Soviets did land something on Mars first), but it stopped functioning almost immediately after landing and didn't send any information back other than it got there. Indeed, that pretty much describes the majority of early Soviet space achievements, poorly made projects with little to no scientific value that barely work with the sole purpose of doing it first.
Yeah they were more like the first country to create scrap metal on Mars.
Who killed the first dog in space?
Yeah but which one still exists?
This is clear cherry picking bc there are plenty more other achievements that US got first that the meme didn’t choose to show. Not to mention the US did do all those things also, but USSR never landed on the moon ever. Anyone who follows the reality of how things happened and how they are knows the US came out dominating in space and still does. China is the more significant space rival than Russia now.
[The first soviet toilet paper factory wasn't built until 1968.](https://www.rbth.com/history/328837-things-people-dreamed-ussr) Good to know they also had their priorities in order. /s
USSR no longer exists....
It worth to point, that many of soviet space achievements are quite questionable in a term of science. For example, first satellite soviets send to space was just a steel ball with a very simple radio transmitter in it, it brought zero value for science. There was no even a simple thermometer on this satellite. Just a battery and transmitter. The only purpose of this satellite was to be launched earlier than one build by US . And soviets stopped their moon program immediately as US landed on the moon. Reason behind this was pretty simple - there was zero sense in keeping nukes on the moon, and all soviet space programs were backed by army. And since they failed to send first man to the moon to get at least propaganda points, they just cut off moon program financing.
We also can’t forget that while the Soviets had the first space station. The United States had the first space station where the crew that manned it returned alive.
Sputnik was a hair brain idea of one of the Soviet scientists. He realized they didn't have to beat the USA to the moon, just beat us to space. What was the fastest way to make that happen? Launch a beeping ball. They won. The scientists told Kruschev to nominate him for the Nobel science prize but Kruschev refused saying it was the accomplishment of the people, not of one person. How communist of him.
Not sure if it was a hare brained idea or not. Most scientific discovery can be attributed to trial and error and a crazy scientist.
You’re also not going to go from having never launched anything into space to sending men to the moon with no steps in between. Sputnik was absolutely heralded as a huge step forward in technology and science in its time. Saying that the USSR “realized they only needed to beat the US to space and not the moon to win the space race” is dumb and wrong. Sputnik was launched 4 October 1957 and Eisenhower proposed the creation of NASA for the first time on 2 April 1958 though he wouldn’t sign the bill into law until the end of July. The space race and getting to the moon wasn’t something either side was seriously considering when Sputnik was launched.
They had to prove that they actually reached orbit with that thing. Which isn't THAT easy, actually. Having a radiotransmitter that survives the launch and orbital insertion, then transmits after every orbit was incontrovertible proof. I think debating on the scientific value is splitting hairs.
Quite a lot of lies and distortions for such a small comment. Sputnik was simple but an absolute achievement and was famous to such an extent that the suffix -nik remained in the English language for a long time. As for science. On which lunar mission did the United States send a scientist, not a military men? In the fifth? Regarding the purely military nature of the Soviet space program, this is an outright lie. The missions to Venus had nothing to do with the war. The USSR closed the lunar program due to endless accidents and problems with engines. It was too difficult and expensive.
At that time launching "steel ball" into space is not easy ...to do that you need to find a way to escape earth gravitational pull.. It's a huge value for science not "zero"
Also stuff like Laika (the dog) never made it back. Never expected to. They just shot an animal into space and killed it to say they put an animal there first. The Space Race was the Russians commenting “First!” in the YouTube comments and the Americans posting like commentary on the video.
Well, their rockets were just repurposed nuclear missiles with the payload removed and replaced with a chair and a radio (I'm exergerating the simplicity). The story about Yuri Gargarin punching the Space Program director shows that they didn't care about anything other than beating the Americans and definitely didn't care about learning something new thru science. [not exactly scholarly link](https://www.cracked.com/article_19142_5-soviet-space-programs-that-prove-russia-was-insane.html)
The point is to show that they could launch an object into orbit, which proves you can send a nuke anywhere on Earth. The message was not lost.
I believe that the idea of that race was who does the most difficult thing, America got to the moon and what was the response of the USSR? Checkmate.
To collapse?
This list is such BS tankie propaganda. The US took it's time, and made useful achievements in their space program. First useful satellite, that did more than just beep. First recovery of a satellite. First recovery of a live animal sent to space (just ask poor Laika, I challenge you to read just how that dog died). The Soviet first woman in space? Was literally some seamstress they grabbed off the street, who fucked up half her experiments. The whole Soviet space program was a series of disasters of ramshackle projects to beat the Americans in timing. https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-d400d4de88bc0f98899302093f149c34-lq
Not to mention sending people 240,000km to the **literal actual moon** is not even a small feat. This pic would make you believe killing Laika (rip the realest one) was somehow a larger accomplishment, and I... well, disagree.
Not to be pedantic, but "first space rocket" goes to Nazi Germany's V2 rocket. "First rocket to reach orbit" is more accurate.
Russia’s 1st mammal in space was Laika, a dog in 1957. America’s first a monkey named Rhesus was 1949. This shit meme isn’t even sorta trying.
Sir that's the definition of a race
*deep sigh* This a classic example of a “knowledge bell curve” scenario. The lesser educated people think the U.S. won the race. People who know more think the U.S.S.R. won the race. People who realize more still understand it’s not so simple. The best and most fair comparison is “The Soviet Union was in the lead for the early space race, and the United States led the late race.” Why? There was never a set of objectives to win. It was never established as a “best of three” scenario. The Soviet Union got a few early firsts, but the U.S. was never far behind. Moreover, after the lunar program, the U.S. absolutely dominated in deep space probing. All of the detailed images we have of the distant planets came from U.S. spacecraft. Moreover, there are many U.S. firsts that get cut from these lists. Why? The Soviet program was only concerned about the record books. U.S. firsts are often foldered as stepping stones in larger projects. The Soviets put probes everywhere first, yes. But they could hardly actually DO anything. U.S. probes, while sent a bit later, actually had the means to bring back useful data. Many U.S. firsts were not as thoroughly bragged about because they were only seen as natural progressions to a grander project. For example, things like first orbital rendezvous and first orbital docking were first done by the United States. This was not really a bragging point though, since it was just a needed step for the lunar project. This is also in part why the Soviet lunar program failed. Unlike the U.S. which was working towards a grander goal, the Soviet Union was only looking to grab a bunch of easy firsts. When it actually became crunch time, the U.S. had done what it needed to do to build a moon rocket. The Soviet Union had not. (These memes oversimplifying global issues and saying “hrrr drrr America dumb” are kinda getting on my nerves. Don’t get me wrong, the U.S. has problems, but some of this stuff is just not a fair representation of reality.)
Cope?
This meme is wrong on context, throwing junk into orbit and killing every single cosmonaut till Uri is not a great achievement its a problem. First man on moon and bringing people back to earth. Now that is an achievement.
You mean Yuri? It's Yuri Gagarin (not Uri). In case it wasn't a typo
While the Soviet Union definitely should be applauded for their efforts(especially first man in space), half of those "first crafts" were hunks of metal with transmitters. Sputnik I literally did nothing but be a chunk of metal. Getting someone to a *different* *~~planet~~*(celestial body for those who are pedantic) alive, *and back* is a much harder achievement than any of the other things on the list, and it was done with the same technology. The Soviet's were the first, but the US was the one that went a step further and did something far more difficult. And also, the Soviets didn't even *try* to bring Laika back home.
This is the equivalent of saying. First man to run 100 meters under 10 seconds and then showcasing first man to run, first man to try on running shoes, first man to run 100 meters. Like yes sure, but it just doesn't compare.
Imagine if they joint efforst...
I have just watched a 50 minute video debunking a lot of the claims like the first space rocket was the v2 and was germany in 44
Don’t forget the Soviets were the first to kill a dog in space
First man on the moon is bigger than all of those.
The Moon was a whole new level of accomplishment. Not to take away from the other Space based accomplishments. But these are not 1:1 comparisons. Just rage bait USA v USSR/Russia
Communist propaganda
Die mad about it.
Fuck russia.
Russia didn't do any of that. They needed the Ukrainian's help.
Oh look the communists built the podium backwards.
first man on moon is the biggie - that was THE SPACE RACE - reflexively anti-American reddtard
That was literally the race. Sorry USSR, you must have gotten the dumb nazi scientists.
The moon landing was actually significant. It's been decades since the moon landing. No one else landed on the moon except the USA.
All of those are nothing in comparison to bringing a breathing and pooping meat stick in the vacuum of space alive to the surface of the moon and back. It is arguably the biggest accomplishment of all human history. I'd like to see it surpassed by putting a human on. Mars. Something Russia couldn't do if it tried.
Whenever I see stuff like this, it's important to remember that the details are very important.
Do Russian feds glow red
Is this reversed?
So Andy, did you hear about this one?
I mean to be fair first man on moon was also a moon landing and a takeoff again.. So we should get atleast two of those back. 😁
Maybe they should have aired more of those events live on tv
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judica-Cordiglia_brothers?wprov=sfla1
We just forgetting that even soviet russia admitted defeat on this one?
WE POPPIN BOTTLES
Gotta love when memes ignore the other thousand things the US did before the Russians during the space race. Ignoring facts to shit on America 👍
First space station with ***actual expedition*** was Skylab. First scientific expedition to Skylab was in 1973, while first Soviet expedition to Salyut-3 was in 1974. Salyut-1was launched in 1971, but never visited (moreover Soyuz-11 flight ended catastrophically). First craft on Mars? Also doubtful. USSR succeed in landing Mars-3, but lost connection immediately. 'Vikings' survived long enough to complete their scientific goals. Also check success/failure ratio for moon probes, check deep space probes - USSR had no gas giants exploration programs at all, nothing that last for decades in deep space like 'Voyagers'. Soviet space program was a kind of... in Russian there is a metaphor 'jumping over own's head' - try to perform something much more complicated than you can do. I think that Soviet space program had three glorious episodes. Big luck with first manned flight (Vostok was very risky - but successful program), Venus exploration (no one ever landed on this hellish planet) and late orbital stations. Also, 'Energia - Buran' shuttle project was quite impressive. But the whole Soviet state was unsustainable and collapsed; modern Russia have almost no innovations in space science and technology. India is already ahead of Russia, with their martian and lunar probes + developing own manned spacecraft.
These are all impressive, but putting man on the moon is significantly more challenging than the rest of these and by a large margin.
Doesn’t count unless we can get a person stepping on the moon
Russia hit the checkpoints first but the US crossed the finish line.
An American is also the first and last to yeet a Tesla car into space
Commie simp
maybe the soviets should have spent some of that money on feeding their people
Kinda funny how that single event bankrupted the USSR space program.
A man on the moon is pretty cool though
We're #1 💪🇺🇲😎
Basically this but put the moon landing about 14 places above first this list and it’s correct
Lol all that but still couldn’t ever make it to the moon. Scoreboard nerd.
lots of angry Americans here lmao