Week 9: Space + Art

Our final topic of this quarter of space is very current and will continue to be a major focus of science and the arts for centuries to come.  My favorite topics covered in the lectures involved the first satellites and humans being sent into space.

In 1957, right smack dab in the middle of the Cold War, the Soviets launched Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite (NASA.gov).  While the U.S. at the time had been focusing on staying ahead of the arms race with the Soviets, the Russians chose to lap the Americans in the space race.  The size of a beach ball, Sputnik I was designed to be elegant and received massive media coverage of its launch, thanks to its ability to transmit radio signals back to Earth (History.com).

Sputnik I

Shortly thereafter, in 1961, the Russians secured another victory in the space race when they sent the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin (Redd).  The United States, would respond, however, with a massive push in space technology and innovation, sending the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, in 1969 (Dunbar).

Neil Armstrong

The human race has always been fascinated by space, and as such, many films and documentaries have been created based on both fact and fiction with regards to space.  One of my favorite space films is Apollo 13.  The movie documents the tribulations encountered by the men aboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft following the explosion of oxygen tank no. 2 nearly 200,000 miles away from Earth, which caused oxygen tank no. 1 to fail as well (Dunbar).  Thankfully, the three astronauts aboard the mission were safely brought home.

The film Apollo 13 does a great job of laying out some of the horrors and unknowns when it comes to space travel, which has been privatized in recent years.  But with the many horrors comes great fascination of the unknown, and this will continue to drive space exploration for years to come.
 
Scene from Apollo 13

References:
Dunbar, Brian. “Apollo 13.” NASA, 29 Mar. 2017, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo13.html. Accessed 3 June 2017.

Dunbar, Brian. “Biography of Neil Armstrong.” NASA, 10 Mar. 2015, www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/neilabio.html. Accessed 3 June 2017.

Redd, Nola Taylor. “Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space.” Space.com, 24 July 2012, www.space.com/16159-first-man-in-space.html. Accessed 3 June 2017.

 “Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age.” NASA, 10 Oct. 2007, history.nasa.gov/sputnik/. Accessed 3 June 2017.

“Sputnik Launched.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sputnik-launched. Accessed 3 June 2017.

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