The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States to achieve firsts in space exploration. The origins of the Space Race can be traced back to the Cold War, a period of geopolitical tension between the two superpowers. The competition began with the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite, by the Soviet Union in 1957, and escalated with the launch of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, also by the Soviet Union, in 1961. The United States responded with Project Mercury, which culminated in Alan Shepard's suborbital flight in 1961, and Project Gemini, which focused on spacewalks and orbital rendezvous. The Space Race reached its peak with the Apollo program, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969, a major victory for the United States. The Space Race ended with the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975, a joint mission between the two countries, marking a period of cooperation in space exploration.
