The following year the United States launched Vanguard I with the same capability of communicating back to earth, and then the two superpowers were essentially on par in space. The most visible part...

The following year the United States launched Vanguard I with the same capability of communicating back to earth, and then the two superpowers were essentially on par in space. The most visible part of the Cold War space race, and lingering in popular memory, is the quest for manned space flights, putting humans on the moon, and dreams of space colonies.