Space Race - The U.S.-U.S.S.R. Competition to Reach the Moon (Hardcover, Turtleback School & Library ed.)

For a half-century, the the United States and the Soviet Union competed for primacy in a global struggle. Space was a crucial arena for this rivalry. Each side sought to demonstrate its superiority through impressive feats in rocketry and space flight, while secret satellites kept a wary eye on the adversary.

Space Race, a companion piece to a recently installed permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, ably tells the compelling story of the Cold War in space. More than one hundred photographs document technological advances in space-craft, spacesuits, and surveillance equipment, while the human story of the space race emerges from engineers' and astronauts' pictures, notebooks, and stories.