The Space Age officially began when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957 (“Time Line”). This was an astonishing defeat to the United States. America was dumbfounded when Russia announced their first outer space achievement. A country that, until this point, had always been behind the U.S. in technological advancements, was now leading the …show more content…
NASA developed technologies such as: weather satellites, immediate electronic response through satellites, agriculture resources and computer technologies (Dunbar). NASA also provided 34,000 employees and 375,000 industrial and universal contractors ("The Space Race"). NASA invented a seven-step guide to monitor and test food production to make certain that the astronauts would not get food poisoning while in flight (Dunbar). Soon after, the FDA adopted the seven step guide and cases of salmonella dropped rapidly (Dunbar). NASA inspired innovations and philosophies that may have never been established if not for the influence of the Space Age. On July 20, 1969, America achieved its long sought victory of landing a manned spacecraft on the moon (“Time Line”). “Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon while crewmate Michael Collins orbits around the moon alone.” (“Time Line”). This final victory allowed the United States to overall win and end the Space