After World War II, tension developed between the communist USSR and the capitalist U.S, causing many proxy wars, the Cold War, and a variety of competitions between the U.S and USSR began, including the competition for the first person in space. The competition, known as the space race, quickly became a close competition between the countries. But what was the race? 

Known as the space race, the race to have the best technology and to be first in a completely unexplored frontier, the race would take the forefront of the Cold War from 1955-1975. Before the advent of space travel, the United States had NACA, or the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Created in response to the huge gap in aeronautical technology while fighting in World War I, NACA overseed and created airplanes for military service until 1958. 

On October 4, 1957, something historic happened. Sputnik 1, a satellite created by the USSR and transported into space by an R7 rocket became the first artificial satellite. After the launching of Sputnik 1, the craft orbited the Earth until 1958 (when it fell back into the Earth’s atmosphere) continuously at a rate of 1 orbit per 96 minutes. After the successful launch of Sputnik 1, the USSR also launched a series of Sputniks. Another historic launch, this time of Sputnik and a dog inside the craft named Laika marked the first launch of life into space and proved that life can survive in space. This launch occurred just a month after the original launch, on November 3, 1957, making it even more impressive. 

It was in response to these successes that the U.S. decided to venture into space. In 1958, NACA become NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA wasted no time in creating, instituting, and recruiting for the Mercury Program, the U.S.’s first space program. The soon-to-be astronauts, Alan Shepard Jr. Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Wally Schirra, Scott Carpenter, Deke Slayton, and Gordo Cooper, would be known as the Mercury Seven. And so the race for the first manned space flight ensued. In addition to creating a space program, the U.S. launched Explorer 1 and later launched the first communications satellite, all in 1958. 

The USSR won that race. On April 12, 1961, the USSR made history with the first manned spaceflight, carrying cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin to the stars. However, the U.S. quickly followed the USSR with the first American manned spaceflight, flown by previous Navy test pilot Alan Shepard Jr on May 5, 1961, on the Freedom 7 rocket (aka Mercury-Redstone 3). The flight prompted recently elected President John F. Kennedy to make his famous speech, committing the United States to go to the moon before the end of the 60s and launching the race for the moon.

In 1969, after years of continued innovation on both sides of the arena, the U.S. launched Apollo 11, the spaceship that deposited Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin on the moon to make the first moon landing. This is widely considered the move that won the U.S. the space race. 

Between the orbits and moon landings, there were also a lot of firsts. On June 16, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, an accomplishment the U.S. wouldn’t catch up to until 20 years later in 1983 with Sally Ride. In addition to the first woman in space, the USSR also completed the first successful spacewalk (which was 12 minutes long) on March 18, 1965. Finally, the U.S. launched a satellite that completed the first successful trip to Mars, Mariner 4. 

After the moon landing, the competition began in the arena of building space stations. The USSR built the initial space station on April 19, 1971. Eventually, as the Cold War began to come to a close, the U.S. and USSR collaborated on the Apollo-Soyuz mission, a joint mission that culminated in the first international space handshake on July 15, 1975. It is still greatly debated who won the space race, but there is no debate that the race furthered the technological abilities of humankind.