Who won The Space Race?

Answer 1

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, so it is commonly regarded that the US won the Space Race because they had Neil Armstrong as the first man on the moon.

It is important to note, however, that 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. While the US was concentrating 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.)

There are a few other points to consider:

The purpose of the "great space race" was to

• be the first nation to develop the enormous thrust required to lift a nuclear warhead into a ballistic trajectory large enough to carry it to a landing anywhere in the world;
• be the first nation to develop the precision navigation/guidance required to plant the warhead squarely in the middle of your enemy's capital city, or any other city you choose
• dress the development and test project in a costume that makes it possible to display the results publicly and wins the popular and financial support of your population

The United States reached those goals first.

Now, in 2014, there isn't even a USSR, the US has no manned launch capability,

and is renting space on Russian launches to deliver American astronauts and

supplies to the International Space Station.

Whether there was a 'winner', and who it was, is a matter of individual opinion,

concerning which reasonable people may disagree.