Man had always been curious at what Earth looked like from space and what was happening in the realm called outer space. Americans may have been the first to walk on the moon, but that was just a portion of the action. Many events took place before the moonwalk. On October 4, 1957 the Space Race began with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik I. The satellite orbited the earth every 90 minutes and remained in space for fifty-seven days. The Soviets had beaten the United States into space but the race was far from over.

In November, the Soviets launched Sputnik II, which contained a live dog. This was a blow to America’s ego. Communism had touched outer space before democracy. Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut, was sent into orbit on April 12, 1961, the first man to orbit the earth. Yet again, the Soviets had leaped ahead of the Americans. On June 16, 1963, Valentina Tereshkiva was the first woman in space and the only ever to have a solo flight. Alexi Leonoc performed the first space walk on March 18, 1965. Less than a year later the unmanned Luna 9 was the first successful landing on the moon. The pictures taken showed a new world, undiscovered. In April of 1966, Luna 10 orbited to the moon. The first manned space station to orbit the Earth was the Salyut 1, sent by the Soviet Union, launched in 1971. In 1973, Salyut 3, the first military space station is launched. The space station Mir has been up in space for over twenty years. The Soviet Union had beaten the Americans to many "firsts." Both sides however had failures, something that must be accepted one venturing into the unknown.

On January 31, 1958, Explorer I was the first American satellite to reach space, allowing scientists to discover earth’s radiation belt. In October that same year, NASA was established. In April of 1960, the first weather satellite was launched by the United States. In February of 1962, John Glenn became the first American to travel into space. On June 3, 1965 the first American space-walk took place. In June of 1966, Surveyor I was the first American ship to sort-land on the moon. On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldred, Jr. walked on the moon. The Americans beat the Soviets to the Moon, which was the overall goal of the Space Race. The Americans came out on top although they were beaten in other areas of space exploration by the Soviets.

Eventually relations were improved as the Space Race was basically over. The U.S.S.R. and United States were able to work together in the space program. This helped bring east and west back together.