Recently, Russia announced that it was planning restarting its explorations into space. If this spurs the USA into boosting its space exploration plans then this would be a good thing. It is a shame that the exploration of space has slowed down significantly in recent years. The exploration of space was once a major source of American pride and achievement and re-invigorating the movement would be a hugely positive thing.

Probably one of the most unique aspects of the Cold War was the Space Race. It is doubtful that anything created more wonder in the world that the ability to travel to outer space in a rocket ship. This had been in the realm of science fiction novels and films for decades and these entertainment mediums spawned a number of dreams and fantasies. (There was a silent film based on HG Wells' THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME that may have been the first film of this type) In the 1960's and well into the 1970's, the astronaut had become a mythic figure no different from the Cowboy. Granted, cowboys had the edge over astronauts in the sense that Cowboy hats never went out of style while it never really was sheik to wear an astronaut helmet in public.

Interestingly, the space race began in a world of paranoia. When the Soviets launched Sputnik into space it immediately brought a number of fears to the public consciousness. That is, people understood the potential danger of rocket based nuclear attacks on the United States homeland.  A number of science-fiction films of the 1950's began to echo these themes most famously with THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. 

Then again, there was also the extreme wounded pride felt in America due to the fact that when Sputnik successfully launched, the Soviets had beaten the Americans in the eyes of the world. America would forever be number two in the history books when it came to launching the first rocket into space. The only way America could heal its wounded pride was by succeeding in the space race from there on out. This was most famously achieved, of course, when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. (Did anyone else see the BBC broadcast of this event? The BBC hired Pink Floyd to play an instrumental theme as Armstrong landed. The end result was the very trippy "Moonwalk" theme) Astronauts remained pop cultural icons for decades to come and were the subject of a number of motion pictures ranging from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY to Don Knotts' THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT. This helped re-enforce th mystique of the astronaut as the last of the great explores. Toys, games, costumes, etc flooded the market and every little boy in the USA dreamed of being an astronaut.

While explorations into space continue today it just isn't the same. The mystique of being an astronaut was forever shattered when the Challenger exploded. This forever linked the space race with a sense of danger and foreboding that it has never recovered from. But, the history – and future – of explorations into space is always something to look at fondly. In fact, we'll be spending quite a bit of time on this blog looking at the space race and some of its more unique moments. Stay tuned.