Nukes Put Man in Space - W2W 06000:22:36

In the 1950s, as the Cold War escalated, the same rockets designed to deliver nuclear annihilation across continents became powerful enough to break Earths gravity. Missiles built to destroy cities turned into launch vehicles that carried humanity into orbit.

This episode explores the dark origins of space travelfrom intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear deterrence to Sputnik, the Space Race, and the moment the sky stopped being a safe boundary. At the center of the story stands Sergei Korolev, a Gulag survivor forced to build weapons for the Soviet regime, who nonetheless pushed humanitys first steps into space.

Sputnik shocked the world, ignited fears of a missile gap, reshaped global politics, and triggered massive investments in science, education, and technologyon both sides of the Iron Curtain. The same systems built for global destruction would ultimately give us satellites, navigation, communication, and the modern world we rely on every day.

This is the paradox of the Space Age: Weapons first. Wonder second.

Chapters include:
Nuclear weapons and rocket technology
The Cold War and the birth of ICBMs
Sergei Korolev vs. Wernher von Braun
Sputnik and the global shock of 1957
The myth of the missile gap
How fear reshaped science, education, and space exploration

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Hosted by: Spartacus Olsson & Sebastian Brandstetter
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Co-produced by: Sebastian Brandstetter
Creative Director: Iryna Dulka
Community Management: Anna Deinhard & Tom Aldis
Written by: Spartacus Olsson & Sebastian Brandstetter
Research by: Spartacus Olsson & Sebastian Brandstetter
Edited by: Karolina Dołęga
Color grading by: Karolina Dołęga
Artwork by: Himanka Kalita
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński

Colorizations by:
Mikołaj Uchman
Karolina Dołęga

Archive footage: https://www.screenocean.com

Image sources:
National Archives NARA
Roscosmos First Satellite documentary courtesy of TV RosCosmos
militaryrussia.ru

Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
A Swallows Escape - Fabien Tell
Daylight Rising - Claude Signet
Fly Baby Fly - Fabien Tell
Last Point of Safe Return - Fabien Tell
Leave It All Here - Fabien Tell
March Of The Brave 10 - Rannar Sillard
Never Before - Fabien Tell
Other Sides of Glory - Fabien Tell
Plausible Cause - Fabien Tell
Please Hear Me Out STEMS INSTRUMENTS - Philip Ayers
Rememberance - Fabien Tell
Uncharted Land - Helmut Schenker

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.