The two greatest superpowers in the world were waging a war: a war of supremacy. Indeed, the United States had to defeat its rival, the Soviet Union, to win the Cold War. Both countries wanted to be the first on the Moon, so the United States strived to win the space race and, therefore, defeat the Cold War. Considering these facts, the space race not only helped Americans gain the upper hand in the Cold War, but it also affected America until today. It was a difficult time for America in the late 1950s. The Cold Ward was heating up politically. Suddenly, all this came to an end when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. It was the world's first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth (Holland 112). As Todd Gitlin puts it: “When the Russians launched the first intercontinental ballistic missile and Sputnik in 1957, they destroyed national pride and stoked a national panic in America” (112). At first, politics controlled the race, but President Kennedy later steered it toward peaceful space exploration (Holland 114). Before learning more about space explorations and all those brave astronauts, it is crucial to know the geniuses who led these explorations. Sergei Korolev was the leading Soviet designer and former political prisoner. Its budget was small, but it accomplished a lot (Cadbury 129). Of course, his rival is Wernher von Braun, the much-loved American leader of the rocket team. After World War II, von Braun came to America. Few people knew this, but he was an SS officer and member of the Nazi party (Roger 236). Nonetheless, even though von Braun had a horrible past, he developed many pitchers for the United States. After the launch of Sputnik, the United States decided that it was not going to lose ... middle of paper ...... wanted to learn even more. Their motivation helped them accomplish the impossible: send a man to the Moon. The space race sparked the age of technology up to the present day. Even though the space race is a thing of the past, everyone will always remember it. Works Cited Cadbury, Deborah. Space Race: The epic battle between America and the Soviet Union for space domination. Great Britain: Fourth Estate, 2005. Print.Holland, Gini. “The space race and technology are taking us to the Moon.” The 1960s. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1999. 111-122. Print.Launius, Roger. “Interpreting the moon landings: the Apollo project and the historians.” » History and Technology 22.3 (2006): 225-255. Premier Academic Research. Internet. January 21, 2014. .“The space race.” History Channel. January 23, 2014. The web. January 23. 2014. .