Cold+War+and+Early+Space+Race

The space race came out of the Cold War, and America and Russia's attempt at finding ways to compete, but not fight. Russia was the first to send up a artificial satellite, followed by a satellite that had a dog, and finally the first to send a man into space. America, however, was falling behind, and couldn't keep up. So, America created the International Geophysical Year (IGY), and sent up a satellite under the IGY before Russia was a member, and so claimed the title of first to send a satellite into space. This claim, and the entire IGY, was only a propaganda technique, and a way to gain fame. The CIA said that "the nation that first accomplishes this feat will gain incalculable prestige and recongnition throughout the world" which accurately describes the entire idea behind the International Geophysical Year. Overall, the IGY was created so that America could say that we had sent a satellite into space before the Russians did, when in fact Russia had sent up Sputnik 1 and 2 before us. The only thing that the IGY helped with was to boost American moral during the Cold War.