The Space Race

Overview

The Space Race was a fierce competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to establish superiority in space exploration. The two nations wanted to demonstrate their technological prowess and earn the prestige that came with achieving milestones in a field previously thought of as science fiction.

1440 Findings

Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.

  • The Space Race: a timeline

    The Space Race spans many years and an almost dizzying array of accomplishments. This timeline offers an excellent summary of what led to the race, some of the key personalities involved, and the long list of technological advances that put humanity first into space and ultimately on the moon. The piece includes photos and video, as well as links to related material.

  • Twenty everyday items that NASA invented (infographic)

    Older readers may associate NASA inventions with things like Tang drink mix and freeze-dried ice cream. But the list of inventions that can be traced back to NASA is much longer, and involves technologies that many of use daily. This piece provides a glimpse of just how many ways NASA has changed our lives, even if we didn’t know it.

  • Why billionaires are racing to space

    Space isn’t just for astronauts anymore. For roughly $250K, a civilian can now ride a rocket to the edge of space—four minutes beyond the Kármán Line—before gliding gently back to Earth. The rocket? It lands itself. The tech? Funded by billionaires. Because this isn’t just a space race. It’s a race to shape the future of orbit, exploration, and who controls the skies above us.

    Video 1440 Original

    Why billionaires are racing to space

  • American History Tellers: The Space Race

    Because the Space Race involved so many historical figures, there are a host of fascinating stories to tell. The American History Tellers podcast dives into the Space Race across four episodes. The podcast spans everything from Werner von Braun’s dream of turning missiles into space rockets to intrigues surrounding Apollo 11 and its trip to the moon that became the symbolic end to the Space Race.

  • The evolution of spacesuit design

    Spacesuits have come a long way since cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's orange jumpsuit used in the world's first entry into space in 1960. The iconic outfit is a crucial feature of all space exploration, ensuring humans are protected during launch, spacewalks, re-entry, and more. From innovations in thermal wear to the incremental changes to space helmets, dive into spacesuit history here.

  • Apollo 17: the last humans on the moon

    In 1972, astronaut Gene Cernan became the last person to set foot on the moon. He was part of Apollo 17, the most recent manned mission to the moon. Why was Apollo 17 there? What were they trying to accomplish? This video offers a retrospective of the mission, including archival footage and more recent interviews with Harrison Schmitt, the pilot who flew Apollo 17’s lunar lander.

    Video

    Apollo 17: the last humans on the moon

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