Space Race: The 20th C. Competition between Two Cold War Rivals

The space race was a 20th century competition between two Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union and the United States. The race, who would be first to land a man on the Moon persisted nearly fifteen years. Each country claimed multiple victories along the journey. The competition spawned pioneering efforts to launch artificial satellites, unmanned probes to many planets and human spaceflight in Earth orbit and to the Moon. All of these multi-million-dollar events occurred with computers featuring 100,000 times less processing power than today’s typical mobile phone. It was dangerous work for the new heroes America called astronauts. The event that ended the competition required man to travel nearly 240,000 miles from Earth. Winning the competition was considered necessary for each country’s national security. Learn more about how America ultimately won the race and the journey it required to achieve that goal.

John Cilio is a historical storyteller, author and researcher who has brought historical stories back to life for over 15 years. A member of the Organization of American Historians and the Association for the Study of Connecticut History, he retired from IBM corporate marketing communications. He has published seven historical books and numerous articles for national and regional periodicals.

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