Advances in technology and education

Technology, especially in aerospace engineering and electronic communication, advanced greatly during this period. The effects of the Space Race however went far beyond rocketry, physics, and astronomy. "Space age technology" extended to fields as diverse as home economics and forest defoliation study, and the push to win the race changed the very ways in which students learned science.

American concerns that they had fallen so quickly behind Russia in the race to space led quickly to a push by legislators and educators for greater emphasis on mathematics and the physical sciences in U.S. schools. America's National Defense Educational Act of 1982 increased funding for these goals from childhood education through the post-graduate level.

The scientists spawned by these efforts helped develop technologies for space exploration which have been adapted to uses ranging from the kitchen to athletic fields. Dried and ready-to-eat foods, stay-dry clothing, and even no-fog ski goggles have their roots in space science. Today over a thousand artificial satellites orbit earth, relaying communications data around the planet and facilitating remote sensing of data on weather, vegetation, and human movements to nations who employ them. In addition, much of the micro-technology which fuels everyday activities from time-keeping to enjoying music derives from research which initially was driven by the Space Race.

The USSR was the undisputed leader in rocketry, even up to the end of the Cold War. The U.S. was superior in electronics, remote sensing, vehicle guidance, and robotic control.

More "space races" to come?

Although its pace was slowed, space exploration continues to advance long after the demise of the first Space Race. The first reusable spacecraft (space shuttle) was launched by the USA on the 20th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, April 12 1981. On November 15 1988, the USSR launched Buran, the first and only automatic reusable spacecraft. Probes, satellites of many types, and huge space telescopes continue to be launched by these and other nations.

The possibility of another international "space race" appeared in 2003, with the successful manned space flight of Shenzhou 5 by the People's Republic of China. Their "opponent" could be the United States, which is considering creating a permanent base on the Moon, a manned mission to Mars, or both.

Any subsequent "space race" is likely to be of a different nature.Competition in what might be called "space tourism", to run the first commercial trips into orbit, culminated in a bilateral result. On April 28 2001 American Dennis Tito became the first fee-paying space tourist when he visited the International Space Station on board Russia's Soyuz TM-32. The Ansari X Prize, a competition for private suborbital spaceships, has also been called the new "space race". In late 2004, British aviator-financier Richard Branson announced the launch of Virgin Galactic, a company which will use SpaceShipOne technology, with hopes of launching commercial flights by 2008.