LIFE The Great Space Race: How the U.S. Beat the Russians to the Moon

The Great Space Race between the U.S. and the USSR during the Cold War was a series of moving triumphs and tragedies, both technological and deeply human that riveted the nation even as it seemed the fate of the free world hung in the balance. Which nation’s rockets would reach the moon first? And consequently, would those same rockets blow us to smithereens.

Through it all, LIFE had exclusive access to the heroes behind what the magazine called “history’s greatest exploration.” Their reporters were VIPs at the Cape Canaveral, their photographers spent time in the astronauts’ flight simulators and in their homes, and two weeks after the moon landing, LIFE published what was at the time the definitive account of America’s extraterrestrial triumph. LIFE’s all-new special edition, The Great Space Race: How the U.S. Beat the Russians to the Moon recaptures those heady days, tracing the race’s early days and the politics surrounding it, the race to develop technology, and the elation of an entire nation as we watched the 1969 liftoff to the moon.

Filled with the trademark photography that you’ve come to expect from LIFE, The Great Space Race will take you back in time – a time that was looking toward the future.



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