When did the Space Race begin?

The Space Race was a Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve dominance in spaceflight. It is generally dated to 4 October 1957, when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. The small beeping sphere shocked the United States and spurred it to accelerate its own space program, leading to the creation of NASA in 1958. The Soviets scored further firsts, including sending the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into orbit in 1961. The United States responded with the Apollo program, which achieved the first crewed Moon landing in July 1969. The rivalry drove rapid advances in rocketry, satellites, and technology, and it gradually gave way to cooperation in later decades.