“Space, the final frontier.” These lines from the movie Star Trek have always aroused curiosity and excitement in the human species. Are we really alone in this dark and cold universe? What is beyond the Moon and the solar system? Can the human race leave its home planet and venture beyond? These are the questions that man will continue to ask himself in the years to come. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay It all began during the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, over the competition for spaceflight supremacy nicknamed the "Space Race." After the events following World War II, which saw the victory of the Allied nations and the USSR against the Nazi and Axis powers, the spoils of war were taken by the United States and Russia. The most notable technological spoils were German missile technology; such dominance in this technology was seen as a threat requiring national security. Using this technology, Russia and the United States began creating artificial satellites and unmanned probes and sending them into space in low Earth orbit and to the Moon. On October 4, 1957, Russia was the first to demonstrate its supremacy by launching Sputnik. I. was the first man-made satellite to orbit the earth. While everyone thought that a living creature would not survive in space, Russia was once again bold enough to achieve the unthinkable. He launched a tiny spacecraft into orbit on November 3, 1957. This spacecraft carried Laika, the first ever space dog, into space and became the first animal in space to completely orbit the Earth. Scientists and engineers knew that Laika would not survive the harsh environment of space, but this experiment provided proof that humans will be able to survive the extreme g-forces experienced when a Space Shuttle is launched into space. Finally, Russia was ready to launch a human into space. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made history as the first man in space when he entered Earth orbit on April 12, 1961. At that point, almost everyone thought the space race had finally been won by the USSR. The United States of America had something else in mind. On July 16, 1961, Apollo 11 was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the help of a Saturn V rocket. After a four-day journey, Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin finally landed on the moon. Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the lunar surface, and his speech echoed throughout history. After landing on the Moon and walking on it, the commander spoke these inspiring words: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” This event finally ended the space race between the two powerful countries. The astronauts spent nearly 3 hours collecting lunar material and returned to Earth after 21 hours on the lunar surface. The crew successfully landed in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1961. With the successful Moon landing in 1961, the United States remained supreme in space exploration. As time passed, the technology began to grow rapidly. This led to the creation of better and more powerful spacecraft that were used to launch several astronauts and cosmonauts into space. Soon other countries such as Japan and China began their own space expeditions. This prompted the United States to create a station.