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Race to Space T he space race and nuclear weapons research underscored the ideological disparities between Cold War opponents. Spurred by the success of Sputnik, the United States undertook a full-court press to gain superiority in missile delivery systems and in rockets that could propel humans into outer space. The Americans, British, and other Western countries had a distinct advantage over Soviets at the end of World War II. Abundant natural resources, advanced economies, and lack of devastation in the United States gave the former allies a head start. Additionally, the U.S. spirited off former Nazi rocket scientists instrumental in Germany’s V-2 rocket program, among other scientific initiatives. One of them was

ESCAPE TO THE VICTORS With the Soviets marching

westward, Werner von Braun and his team decided to surrender to the Americans, fearful of what the Russians might do to them. On May 2, 1945, von Braun’s brother, also a rocket engineer, spotted a U.S. army private near the town of Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps. The Nazis had moved von Braun’s team to the location so they wouldn’t fall into enemy hands. As von Braun’s brother walked up to the private, he called out, “My name is Magnus von Braun. My brother invented the V-2. We want to surrender.”

RIGHT: Werner von Braun in front of four F-1 engines mounted on the Saturn V S-IC rocket, which launched U.S. astronauts to the moon. Von Braun led U.S. efforts to build the rocket systems after he surrendered to U.S. forces at the end of World War II.

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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY