The Space Race between the US and USSR from 1957-1975 was a competition for technological and military superiority, with the USSR initially leading. The US ultimately triumphed by landing the first man on the moon in 1969, and the Soviet Union’s economic recession led to reduced funding for its space program. The Space Race is considered an extension of the Cold War, with both countries trying to prove their political system was superior. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 led to the founding of NASA and President Kennedy’s goal of putting a man on the moon, achieved in 1969.
The Space Race was a long-running competition between the United States and the Soviet Union between 1957 and 1975. It began with the delivery of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into orbit in October 1957. When exactly did it end it is difficult to define, but the first joint US-Soviet mission of July 1975 is often cited. An alternative start date is the launch of the first ICBM, the R-7 Semyorka, just six weeks before the launch of Sputnik.
Many historians consider the Space Race to be an extension of the Cold War. The USSR and the USA were competing to outdo each other in the media field of space exploration, trying to prove that their system of political organization (communism versus capitalism) was superior. Although the Soviet Union got off to a very strong start, launching the first satellite and the first human into space, the United States ultimately triumphed in the long run, landing the first man on the moon. In the mid-1970s, the Soviet Union was entering an economic recession that would herald its eventual collapse, and this forced it to greatly reduce funding for its space program.
The competition was intimately connected to military superiority as well as general technological superiority. The weapon of choice if the Cold War gets hot would be ICBMs, suborbital launch units. The opposing countries would have an interest in disabling the spy satellites of the other side, but above all both countries wanted to show their general superiority to the world.
When Sputnik was launched on October 4, 1957, it put Americans in a state of panic. It quickly became easy to obtain funding for space-related projects from the US government, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was founded. In 1961, US President John Kennedy said the US should put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. This was achieved in 1969, largely ending the space race.
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