After the soviet union launched sputnik i in 1957, the united states responded by

The United States was considered as a world power in space technology and the development of missiles. However, the launch of Sputnik I and the fact that one of the first two launch attempts failed, shook the American public. A crisis therefore occurred, called the "Sputnik crisis", due to the imminent threat of the Soviet Union. This event boosted the space race that led to the launch of the first human being into space and the landing of the first man on the moon (1969) through the Apollo Program.