English - The Moon Project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

English - The Moon Project - Research Paper Example Further imposing the challenge, Kennedy implied that even a nation possess the talent and resource necessary for a goal to be achieved only putting initiatives to acting on goals can ensure a nations dream to fulfillment (Kennedy). Kennedy laid upon America the goals of making reality out of the vision of putting a man on the face of the moon bringing the American flag above and ahead of space discovery among any nation. First, is a challenge of commitment, asking the American nation to commit in achieving the goal of bringing an American to the moon and back safely. No single project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish†¦ it will not be man going to the moon†¦ it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there. (Kennedy) The succeeding goal challenges were set in providing additional budget and expenditures for additional proje cts in congruence with the moon project like the development of a Rover nuclear rocket, accelerating the use of space satellites for world-wide communications and a satellite system for the Weather Bureau’s world-wide weather observation (Kennedy). ... Ending with a call to every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, contractor, and civil servant to give personal pledge so that American nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space (Kennedy). American-Russian race to space A number of political factors affected Kennedy's decision and the timing of it. In general, Kennedy felt great pressure to have the United States catch up to and overtake the Soviet Union in the space race (Garber). The United States and Russia competed with each other in developing space programs. During the 1960's and 1970's space race; both nations went under tremendous exploratory efforts in being the first nation to successfully conquer space (Smith).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Space travel began on October 4, 1957 when Russia launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to circle the earth. Man-made satellites are referred to as "artificial" because they are not a natural occurrence lik e the moon. These satellites orbit the earth for varying lengths of time depending on their size and distance from the earth, and they collect and transmit information that is used for a variety of purposes (Smith).    The second artificial satellite, Sputnik II, was launched in November of the same year carrying a dog named Laika, the first animal sent into orbit. As scientists studied how animals responded physically to space travel, it helped to prepare humans for the challenges under the same conditions (Smith).    January 31 of 1958, United States first artificial satellite Explorer I, enters into orbit around the earth (â€Å"Race to the Moon†). The United States launched many other satellites after the success of Explorer 1, for the purpose

How the Russian Economy Can Regain Its International Presence Essay

How the Russian Economy Can Regain Its International Presence - Essay Example This research will begin with the definition of a Market Economy. Janos Kornai's book The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism is a useful point of departure for defining a market economy. Five distinctive features of a socialist economy versus a market economy follow naturally from his classification. First, the foremost criterion of the communist economy was the supremacy of the Communist Party, with its ideology and politics, over the economy. This is so evident that it is often neglected. Now it has ceased. The economy has become depoliticized. Second, centralized state allocation, with centralized commands to enterprises on physical output targets and deliveries, has ended. State orders lingered on for some time in 1992 and 1993, but now they have been whittled down to nothing. Vertical, administrative allocation has been replaced by free, horizontal bargaining between independent enterprises. The economy has been liberalized both internally and externally. For i mports, all quotas are gone, and the protectionism the researcher discusses amounts to the level of the customs tariffs. For exports, some quotas, licenses, and taxes remain, but export deregulation is proceeding and an important additional step was taken in a presidential edict of May 23, 1994. In spite of periodic setbacks in the internal liberalization, market saturation is increasing steadily. The allocation has become depoliticized.... Consequently, the remaining state enterprises are independent, as in a market economy. Ownership has been depoliticized. Fourth, the economy has been monetized and the ruble has become a real, reasonably convertible, currency, with a unified exchange rate that is market-deter-mined and floating. Admittedly, the volume of U.S. dollars in circulation and in Russian bank accounts exceeds the volume of Russian rubles in Russia, but the dollar is also a currency. The problem here is not lack of monetization but the stabilization of the ruble. Fifth, the last major hurdle to making Russia a market economy was to introduce hard budget constraints in enterprises. This was essentially done on September 25, 1993, when President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree abolishing subsidized credits. The refinance rate was already high and rose to 17.5 percent a month--that is, 593 percent a year--on October 15, 1993, and it has stayed high in real terms since then. The budget deficit has been kept fixed at about 9-10 percent of GDP. Thus, since October 1992, Russia and Russian enterprises have faced a severe monetary squeeze, and Russia has reacted exactly as market economies do: the inflation rate has fallen, from over 20 percent a month last year to about 9 percent a month from February through April 1994. As a result, during those months Russia had a positive real interest rate of 9 percent a month, or 180 percent a year. A Russian enterprise in trouble can no longer count on the state to bail it out. Credit has become relatively, thou gh not completely, depoliticized (Aslund p. 5-6). The current attempt at financial stabilization may fail, and the social costs of the Russian transition might rise higher because of gradualism and