What was the space race and who won?

Answer 1

The space race was a multi-step race between Russia and the United States. First, they were trying to get the first man-made satellite in space. Russia accomplished this. Then, Russia also sent the first man into earth's orbit, Yuri Gagarin. The next step was to land on the moon. Russia and America did this with un-manned spacecraft. Then, in 1969, the American Eagle landed on the moon with a small crew inside. Most consider the United States as winning the race because they put man on the moon for the first time.

Further information:

A common definition of the "space race" during the 1960s was making the first moon first landing. The US is the only nation to have put a man on the moon.

Although the 'space race' was generally interpreted in the US as 'the race to put a man on the moon', this was a self invented definition. The Soviet Union had no manned moon landing program during the period of NASA's push to develop the Apollo missions. The act of getting to the moon was certainly a great achievement, but it was a program in itself, rather than part of a greater plan. Having attained the goal, the US public soon tired of the whole thing, and the moon project was abandoned.

On the other hand, Russia won the race to launch the first live creatures into space. Sputnik 5, also known as Korabl-Sputnik 2, was the second test flight of the Russian Vostok spacecraft. It was launched on 19 August 1960, and carried two dogs, Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, 2 rats and numerous plants. The spacecraft returned to earth on August 20, and all animals were recovered safely.

Russia also put the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin 1961). They put the first satellite in space (sputnik 1-1957) and they put the first space station in space (1971). Russia also performed the first space walk and had launched the first female in space. They also were the first to land a vehicle on the moon, the Luna 2. Wile the US was socncentrating its efforts on getting man to land on the moon, the Soviet Union, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, was achieving major successes in manned orbital satellites and the study of the effects of long term space missions on the cosmonauts.

(N.B. While it's mostly referred to as Russia it was officially called the Soviet Union until 1991, though Russia is recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet Union.)