The Space Race and the Arms Race

Space Race In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, called Sputnik, into orbit around Earth, inaugurating what become known as the Space Race. The United States launched its first satellite in January 1958. The two nations competed to become the first with a manned satellite orbiting Earth and, later, the first to land a human on the moon.

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) Early in 1959, the Soviets tested the first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead into U.S. territory. The United States tested a similar missile later that same year. Both countries realized that they had become so powerful that they had reached a point of mutual assured destruction. That is, regardless of who started a war, both would be obliterated by the end of it. Since neither side could win a nuclear war, neither side had an incentive to start one. As long as both sides kept improving their technology, the balance of terror between them would keep the peace—everyone hoped.