The Space Race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United States. It all began on August 2, 1955, when the Soviet Union responded to the US announcement to launch artificial satellites for the International Geophysical Year, by declaring they would also launch a satellite. The Soviet Union beat the US to this, with the Sputnik orbiting in October 4, 1957. The race peaked when the US send the first humans on the Moon with Apollo 11. The Soviet Union then tried but failed manned lunar missions, and eventually cancelled them and concentrated on Earth orbital space stations.
