Yeah. This meme reeks of “sore loser” or someone looking to create revisionist history to shade the US.
The USSR had a lot of important firsts and accomplishments in the “space race” including man made satellite and crewed space trip. The Americans and others have the Soviets and later Russian federation to thank for providing launch vehicles and other support and innovation. Of course the US and USSR aren’t the only nations that have contributed greatly or in important ways to man’s history in space. The whole thing is quietly overshadowed by the fact that the “golden age” of space was made possible for most players, especially the USA and USSR by Nazis. Not only the Nazi technology that they used but the literal Nazis working in the space programs. So there’s that bit too.
But as far as the “winner of the space race..” the race between the USA and USSR was won when… oh… I dunnoh… the USSR never reached parity with the US space program, technology, or latest accomplishments and then… ohhhh.. I dunnoh… STOPPED EXISTING. So I mean- the USA still has an active presence and continuing and future planned operations in space and the USSR… DOESNT EXIST. So they lost about as hard as you can lose. You don’t really lose any race more completely than… not existing.
But one can argue the space race continues. We still haven’t put a human on another planet or set up a colony on another planet or sent a crewed flight beyond the moon by much more than is required for the lunar trip. The USA has been sort of the defacto big gun in space for awhile but the ESA and others have done some big things and many collaborations between organizations have occurred that it wouldn’t be fair to declare an unquestioned “winner” on. That said the space race itself fizzled. That’s the other factor. There have y ever been a couple or a few nations on earth at any time simultaneously that could send a human to the moon or land a probe on mars etc.
After the lunar landing most of the realists and bean counters could see that the “If not when” Of manned mats missions was not a decade or even a few within reach. The technology and costs of such a mission to the “next big space milestones” like ling term lunar manned bases or lunar shipyards or manned mars missions were over the horizon and the “space race” was always in parts both a way to show off potential might and technological ability and to test and develop technologies that could give advantage. It was as clear as the far off horizon that the technological advancements of those “next steps” didn’t offer real advantages in the way less “wow factor” developments like advanced satellites and atmospheric flight and weapons and sensors and…
There just wasn’t a lot of real advantage in the technology tree compared to other paths. The Soviets didn’t really chase “one upping the moon” nor did the Americans or the Europeans or the Chinese…. There were some options in space for weapons and such- but many were impractical and likely to cause problems back home. Weapons platforms in space or lasering the moon or whatever- those could cause problems compared to just “being first” in going from A to B or such. So after the moon- asides changing times and changing public interest and such- the Soviet Union was gone and there wasn’t anyone to really take their place. In some time Russia and China and others developed out and advanced their space programs but we still haven’t really had a “space race” maybe the prelude to one.
China especially is trying to expand out, send manned missions and robotic rovers and probes to the moon, Mars… which could create a new space race. The USA and (western) European space agencies and Japan have not really had much in the way of “races” in the public perception as these agencies tend to closely collaborate.
China and Russia and certain others have at various times been collaborators in space but- there has always been some competition there. A large factor being the previously alluded to military/political/economic implications of space travel.
The weapons that deliver nuclear payloads and other long race high speed weapons and tactical systems trace to space programs. So tend to the defensive systems to counter such things. Intelligence gathering, information and telecommunications..
The things that power the economic and military might of the 21st century are closely tied to advancements in space exploration and the required technologies.
So when countries have any sort of animosity or see each other as likely potential near term enemies of a war occurs- they tend to not collaborate too closely since that means not only sharing sensitive technologies but potentially providing advantages to their future rivals.
So I mean… yeah. The “space race” of the 1960’s was won by the USA hands down by default since the only competition evaporated. It is arguable if a space race has continued or been restarted or if there hasn’t been a space race since the fall of the USSR in the same way we had a “cold war” instead of “ww3.” It’s like a space Cold War perhaps at best. Space race may be premature.
President John F. Kennedy
pretty well implied as being the finish line, i would think.
The USSR had a lot of important firsts and accomplishments in the “space race” including man made satellite and crewed space trip. The Americans and others have the Soviets and later Russian federation to thank for providing launch vehicles and other support and innovation. Of course the US and USSR aren’t the only nations that have contributed greatly or in important ways to man’s history in space. The whole thing is quietly overshadowed by the fact that the “golden age” of space was made possible for most players, especially the USA and USSR by Nazis. Not only the Nazi technology that they used but the literal Nazis working in the space programs. So there’s that bit too.
China and Russia and certain others have at various times been collaborators in space but- there has always been some competition there. A large factor being the previously alluded to military/political/economic implications of space travel.
The weapons that deliver nuclear payloads and other long race high speed weapons and tactical systems trace to space programs. So tend to the defensive systems to counter such things. Intelligence gathering, information and telecommunications..
So when countries have any sort of animosity or see each other as likely potential near term enemies of a war occurs- they tend to not collaborate too closely since that means not only sharing sensitive technologies but potentially providing advantages to their future rivals.
So I mean… yeah. The “space race” of the 1960’s was won by the USA hands down by default since the only competition evaporated. It is arguable if a space race has continued or been restarted or if there hasn’t been a space race since the fall of the USSR in the same way we had a “cold war” instead of “ww3.” It’s like a space Cold War perhaps at best. Space race may be premature.