Rockets and rivalries: The high-stakes competition of the Cold War 'Space Race'

In the early days of the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union raced to be the first to send a human into space.

This technological rivalry between the two superpowers was known as the 'Space Race'.

The competition to develop the most powerful rocket and technology meant that the Space Race had far-reaching consequences for both countries, including the development of new weaponry and the increased militarisation of space.

Many of the early scientists and engineers with a background in rocket science were German, and the technology these individuals developed was used by both the US and the USSR in the Space Race.

However, it was not until after World War Two that the Space Race truly began.

This was due to a number of factors, including the increased competition between the US and USSR following the war, as well as the development of new technologies that made space travel possible.

Winning the Space Race was considered to be politically important to both countries because it was seen as a way to prove the superiority of their respective political systems.

In addition, the Space Race had military implications, as the development of new rocket technology could be used to create intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

The first steps in the Space Race were taken by both countries in the 1950s, with each launching their own satellites into orbit. It was the Soviets who achieved the first significant steps in the race.

The USSR rocket program was led by the aeronautical engineer called Sergei Korolev.

In the 1950s, Korolev designed the R-7 rocket, which was a large and powerful rocket with the capacity to reach the Moon.

However, it was still too early in the development process to put men into a spacecraft, so they had to develop un-manned craft first.

The very first successful satellite was the Soviet Union's Sputnik I, which was launched on October 4, 1957.

This made worldwide news, and this small device was able to orbit the Earth every 96 minutes.

It was the first artificial Earth satellite, marking a significant achievement in space exploration.

Then, in November 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik II, their second satellite and the first to contain a living creature: a dog called Laika. 

The Soviets were winning the early stages of the Space Race in the late 1950s, and the Americans were desperate to catch up.

The United States' Explorer I was launched on January 31, 1958. In July 1958 President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the formation of a dedicated space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

NASA was formed to consolidate and lead the U.S. efforts in space exploration.

In January of 1959, the Soviet Union launched the unmanned first spacecraft to the moon, called Luna 1. 

Unfortunately, the technology was still experimental, and it missed its target by around 3,700 miles.

This was followed by the launched of the Luna 2 on the 12th of September, 1959, which successfully crashed into the moon on September 14th, just as it was designed to do.

This meant that the USSR was the first to land a man-made device on the moon.

These early successes led to an escalation in the Space Race, with both sides working to develop more powerful rockets and technology.

America began Project Mercury in 1958, which was their first manned spaceflight program. 

The Space Race reached its peak in the 1960s, with both sides vying for supremacy in space.

On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first human to enter space. The Soviets sent the first woman into space, Valentina Tereshkova, in June 1963. 

However, the United States was not far behind. They sent Alan Shepard on a suborbital flight on May 5, 1961, and John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth in 1962.

However, Soviet achievements sent shockwaves through the United States government and scientific community.

In response, in a speech delivered at Rice University in Houston, Texas, on September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy issued a challenge to NASA to put a human on the moon within ten years.

NASA went to work developing the necessary technology and training astronauts for the historic Apollo Moon landing missions.

The Apollo 8 program, the first manned mission to leave Earth's orbit and orbit the moon, was launched on the 21st of December 1968.

Then, on July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 program. 

The Space Race finally came to an end in 1975 when the two superpowers signed the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which limited each country's ability to develop anti-satellite weapons and an agreement to cooperate in space exploration.

This cooperation led to some of humanity's greatest achievements, such as the launch of the International Space Station in 1998, a multinational project involving several other countries and space agencies.

While the Space Race may have ended over 40 years ago, its legacy can still be seen today.

The technologies developed during the Space Race have led to advances in fields such as medicine and telecommunications, and the militarisation of space has resulted in the development of new weapons systems.

The Space Race was a defining event of the Cold War, and its effects are still felt today.