The Space Race: 1963

As the days of World War II came to an end, both the United States and the Soviet Union began turning their sights onto a new horizon: space. The rapid growth of rocket technology in the last few decades spurred on by scientific ingenuity and military need has presented these global superpowers a new way to assert their influence on the world. Across both sides of the Iron Curtain, both of these countries raced to develop the technology necessary for space capabilities. However, when the Soviets launched Sputnik, this officially marked the dawn of the Space Race. The Americans proceeded to suffer from a mass panic surrounding the capabilities of the relatively unknown high-tech technologies that the Soviets seemed to have developed out of nowhere. The American government was now faced with the pressure to secure America’s position as a global leader in science and innovation, and President Eisenhower responded by convening this committee to chart a course for the nation’s response to this startling technological leap. Together, they must find a way forward that protects national security, inspires a generation, and propels the United States into the new frontier of space.