Korolev’s R7 rocket armed with a nuclear warhead was powerful enough to cross continents and wipe out entire American cities. But for the maintenance of international peace, the Soviet Union chose to fight a invisible war against the United States. In this way, the space became one of the battlegrounds; the space race became one of the open contests between communism and capitalism. Since then, Korolev had been planing his next spectacular move: the first man into space. Therefore, a hunt for a spaceman was on. Across the Soviet Union, military experts searched for “cosmonauts” to match Korolev’s specification——“around 30, height below 170 centimeters, weight less than 70 kilograms” (Everest, Space Race), and with a broad smile. To confront the Soviet threat, “the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, had hastily put together a project to get an American into space” (Everest, Space
Korolev’s R7 rocket armed with a nuclear warhead was powerful enough to cross continents and wipe out entire American cities. But for the maintenance of international peace, the Soviet Union chose to fight a invisible war against the United States. In this way, the space became one of the battlegrounds; the space race became one of the open contests between communism and capitalism. Since then, Korolev had been planing his next spectacular move: the first man into space. Therefore, a hunt for a spaceman was on. Across the Soviet Union, military experts searched for “cosmonauts” to match Korolev’s specification——“around 30, height below 170 centimeters, weight less than 70 kilograms” (Everest, Space Race), and with a broad smile. To confront the Soviet threat, “the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, had hastily put together a project to get an American into space” (Everest, Space