NOVA

  • Open Skies Proposed

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    Gagarin reaches space
    Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin flew into orbit with the Vostok 1 and became the first man in space.