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Open Skies Proposed
After world war II, the U.S and the Soviet Union entered into the Cold War game of Spy-versus-Spy that ultimately led to the Space race -
Sputnik 1
Eisenhower's Science Advisory Comittee urged him to consider launching non-military satellites, which, unlike planes, could travel over enemy terrain without risk of being shot down. -
Explorer 1
Just a month after propelling the first satellite into space, the Soviet Union had made headlines again with Sputnik 2, which sent the first animal, a dog, into orbit. -
Reaching for the moon
By 1959, both countries had set their sights on a new symbolic goal-- first to reach the moon. -
Spy photos from space
As scientists in both nations worked to improve rocket and satellite technology, plans for spy missions were well under way. -
Gagarin reaches space
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin flew into orbit with the Vostok 1 and became the first man in space.