How the Space Race Worked

In this episode of Stuff You Should Know, Josh and Chuck dive deep into the fascinating history of the Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union from the late 1950s through the moon landing in 1969. They explore how this Cold War competition actually began with captured Nazi rocket scientists working on both sides, and trace the dramatic back-and-forth victories as each superpower tried to outdo the other in space exploration. The hosts break down the major milestones, programs like Mercury and Gemini, key figures like Werner von Braun, and explain how America went from getting "trounced" early on to ultimately achieving Kennedy's ambitious goal of landing on the moon before the decade's end.