Explores the military origins of the Space Race, including the geopolitics of the Cold War, the race to build intercontinental ballistic missiles, and sophisticated reconnaissance satellites. Includes information about Germany's development of the V-1 "buzz bomb" and V-2 missiles of World War II, and the United States enlistment of Wernher von Braun, the German scientist known as the father of rocketry.

Includes index.

The space race -- Early rockets -- How rockets work -- Rocket pioneers -- The V-2 missle -- Wernher von Braun -- Sergei Korolev -- The Cold War -- The ICBM -- Sputnik -- America's turn -- High-flying spies -- Timeline -- Glossary -- Online resources -- Index.