Beginning of Essay
At the start, there were no set rules for the Space Race. What would count as winning? What was the goal? For Americans, President Kennedy's declaration narrowed the Space Race down to one precise goal: landing a man on the Moon before the Soviets. The Space Ra ....

Middle of Essay
.... programs blended into a secretive military-industrial bureaucracy. Launches were not announced in advance, and only the successes were publicized. (Baker 158-161). During the early years of the Space Race, success was marked by headline-making, historical "firsts." Some of these firsts included the first satellite, the first robotic spacecraft to the Moon, the first man in space, the first woman in space, and the first spacewalk. To the chagrin of the United States, each of these early firsts were achieved by the Soviet Union, thus sparking the United States to not only catch up with the Soviets, but also to surpass them. (Alexander 37-39). ....