The space race was not just about who lands on the moon first, it was much more than that. The space race during the Cold War was the discovery of space by the Soviet Union and the United States. From 1955 to 1972 these two superpowers battled each other for supremacy in space flight technologies, with each country launching multiple satellites and manned missions into space. The Soviet Union started the space race with Sputnik and the United States ended it with the first man on the moon. Although some people think that the Cold War affected American domestic life negatively it did not. It had a positive impact on Americans. Exploration of space, becoming the most powerful country in the world, and advancement in technology are some of the …show more content…
On 12 April 1961, while the American were in a disarray, with their space efforts publicly falling, Russia sent Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1 (Cavendish). Gagarin was the first person to actually view the Earth from space. This made him a global hero. This caused anxiety across the United States. As a result, “On 25 May 1961, President Kennedy announced to the nation a goal of sending an American safely to the moon and back before the end of the decade” (Launius 13). This goal helped scientists get knowledge of space and measure the skills of Americans. It was also a great way to show the world how powerful America was. Eight years after Kennedy’s speech, NASA successfully met the president’s goal. “A unique confluence of political necessity, personal commitment and activism, scientific and technological capacity, economic prosperity and public mood made possible the 1961 decision to carry out a forward- looking lunar landing program” (Launius 14). On 20 July 1969, an astronaut named Neil Armstrong who traveled in Apollo 11, stepped out on the moon. This lead to the victory of the United States. The space race was such a big event in history. It led to so many more scientific discoveries then and later on. With the exploration of space, the United States became the most powerful country in the world. Advancement in technology showed how the Cold War had a positive effect on the domestic life of the Americans. The Cold War led to better future for not just Americans but every human being and America no longer feared the Soviet Union in the same