12/05

HSCI 3333V (Fall, 2005)

Web Assignment IV: Space Race

The assignments on the web are intended as alternative to having additional reading and are intended to encourage you to think about using visual materials to study history by using primary source materials that reveal the ideas of contemporaries expressed in words as well as through artistic and photographic materials that bring their lives into fuller vision. Your assignment is to write a relatively short (250-350 word essay) on the question below. It is due on November 17/18.

The American and Soviet space programs were similar in many ways, including the goals that motivated them and their popular following. The motives for those who pursued rocketry and participated in the space race were motivated to pursue the highly technical projects were, it seems complex. In your essay indicate what you think are the three or four major factors that explains the commitment of participants and the response of the public to what ultimately became a great space race.

As always, use specific examples to structure your argument within a clear framework.