The Conflict

“In October 1957, the “beep, beep” from orbit of Sputnik, the first satellite was truly heard around the world. Once the United States had matched that Soviet achievement, the race between the two superpowers to launch humans into space was the next, daring step.” (Neal 74)

The Cold War had started a fierce competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to create the most powerful weapons. Both realized that the future of military technology was going to be found in rockets. “The rocket had demonstrated that it could deliver significant explosive charges over long distances with relative accuracy” (Brzezinski). As a result, an arms race developed between the two countries, and each began designing bigger and better rockets.

As the science of rocketry developed in the 1950s, researchers began to realize the potential of these devices not to cause greater harm, but to reach beyond the atmosphere of earth and explore space. Thus, the race shifted from creating the best weapons to being the first to send a rocket or satellite into space, thus starting the space race.

The Soviet Union won the first battle, with their launch of Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit Earth. America was disappointed that it hadn’t achieved the victory, but nevertheless, it redoubled its efforts and became the first and only country to land a man on the moon with its Apollo missions. Even though the Soviet Union never managed to land a man on the moon, they still maintained a strong space program that rivaled that of the United States.