The great space race started in the early 1950s. There were two sides, the democratic capitalists of the US, and the communists of the Soviet Union. The idea of space travel sparked a race to see who could get into space first. B both wanted to prove that their military and technology was better. October 4th, 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite to be in Earth’s orbit. It was seen as the new frontier in the technology of space travel.
In 1958, the US launched Explorer I. That year, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Eisenhower created two parts of NASA, the military, who was in charge of seeking out the possibilities