FEATURE BY MARCUS HEARN
The Space Race was aptly named. The rivalry between the USA and USSR prompted astonishing progress in space exploration during the post-war years. The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, in October 1957. Less than four years later, in April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. In 1962, President Kennedy gave the US space programme a new sense of urgency by promising to land a man on the Moon. The dream was realised in July 1969.