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Although it’s debatable whether "science" was much of a part of the Space Race, there’s no doubt that it definitely filled the "Big" part of "Big Science." From 1957 to 1975, the United States spent approximately $100 billion competing with the Soviet Union in space exploration.

The Space Race was kicked off in 1957, when the Soviet Union launchedSputnik-1, making it the first space power. A couple of months later, they launched Sputnik-2 with the first living passenger to go to space, Laika the dog. Then Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space when he orbited Earth in 1961. There’s no question that the Soviet Union took the early lead (United States’ first attempt at space exploration, the Vanguard rocket, pathetically blew up on the launching pad).

In 1961, President Kennedy proclaimed that Americans would land a man on the Moon before the decade was out. In public, Kennedy said that NASA’s Apollo Program would benefit the economy, close the missile gap in which the Soviets have more ballistic missile weapons than the Americans, and spur science and technology in the United States. In private, Kennedy said that his main motivation was to beat the Soviet Unions and show them who’s better.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon, photo taken by Neil Armstrong (Photo: NASA)