The Space race was a monumental period of time in the 20th century and led to a plethora of developments in the field of astronomy and aerospace engineering. However, this race was not simply focused on the development of humanity’s technological capabilities, rather focused on 2 competing nations fighting to be the “first” in multiple achievements that would go down in history. Before discussing such a stupendous event, the beginning of what may be the greatest race in history must be understood. 

On the 29th of July, 1955, the United States made a bold claim. They announced that they would be planning to send a satellite into orbit around the Earth. If achieved, they would be the first nation to ever complete such an extraterrestrial feat. What they were not aware of (at the time) was that the USSR was working on their own astronomy program and planning to launch their ‘Sputnik 1’ as well. It was now a race against time to see who would be able to launch their satellite into orbit first successfully. 

And on the morning of October 4th, 1957, the USSR had completed what the US had set out to do. Sputnik 1 was launched into orbit successfully. However, this was only the beginning of the race as merely sending a satellite into orbit is not a good enough achievement. Sending the first person to the moon would be the end goal and it was no small feat. 

The US caught up to the USSR shortly after and successfully launched their ‘Explorer 1’ on January 31st, 1958. Both parties were neck and neck, with the USSR having a small 2-3 month lead due to their satellite launching earlier. 

Since the final goal was the moon, having someone exit the earth's atmosphere would be the smaller step in reaching the moon. And the USSR would take this victory from the US as well. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to journey into space. His orbital flight around Earth was a momentous achievement that solidified the Soviet Union's lead in the Space Race.

It seemed that the USSR was completely winning in this race. Having the first satellite to enter orbit and having the first human to exit the earth's atmosphere were both accomplishments achieved by them. However, the US would shock everyone almost a decade later. In 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 mission, led by astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, achieved the impossible. Neil Armstrong's famous words as he stepped onto the lunar surface, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," remain etched in history. 

Whilst the USSR achieved numerous victories in this race, including the penultimate goal of getting a human to exit the earth's atmosphere, it was the US who ended up reaching the final goal first, with Neil Armstrong and his Apollo 11 mission. This race would be marked in history as one of the greatest eras of technological development.