After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union realized how important rocket research would be to the military. So they each hired top German rocket scientists to help them with their research. After being hired, both parties made a lot of progress. The space race began in 1955 when the Americans announced that they would begin launching satellites into orbit. The Soviets took the American announcement as a challenge and created a group whose goal was to beat the United States by putting a satellite into orbit. Even though the United States started the competition, the Soviets still won because they launched the first successful satellite into orbit, put a dog in space, and also sent the first man into space. Some may say that the United States won because it put the first man on the Moon, which is a huge achievement by Americans. Thus, for having won numerous missions against the United States, the Soviets won the space race. They took the lead in launching the first successful satellite into space. On October 4, 1957, the Soviets successfully launched the first satellite into orbit. It was called Sputnik I and successfully entered Earth's orbit. This first success marks the beginning of the space age. The Soviets' successful launch shocked the entire world, giving the Soviet Union the respect of having launched the first man-made object into space. The Americans successfully launched their first satellite four months after Sputnik I, called Explorer I. The United States would have had the first satellite in orbit if it had been allowed to use military rockets from the start. But Eisenhower feared being labeled a warmonger if he used military rockets to launch a satellite into orbit. He told science... middle of paper ...faster than the Soviets during the space race. The Americans accomplished only one mission faster than the Soviets, while the Soviets accomplished three missions faster than the Americans. But the only reason the subject of sending a man came up was because the Americans were embarrassed about initiating the space race. In 1961, President Kennedy went to Congress and announced that he wanted to be the first to put a man on the Moon so he could win at least one mission against the Soviets. One thing Americans did was honor all of humanity with what Neil Armstrong said: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for humanity." » Even if they lost the space race, they still believed that everyone should be recognized for this accomplishment. So the Soviets won thanks to many other achievements during the space race..