besides the arms race, another part of the cold war was the "space race". this started when the soviets launched a satellite into space called "sputnik" in 1957. americans became worried that the united states was falling behind the soviet union, and made their schools focus more on mathematics and science. within a few years, both the united states and the soviet union had sent satellites, animals and people into orbit. in 1969 the "apollo 11" mission put neil armstrong and buzz aldrin on the moon.