The space race began in 1957 with the Soviet launch of Sputnik.1 The Soviets continued to lead with the first manned space flight; which was also an orbital flight.2 The Soviets then led with the first spacewalk.3 The Soviet space program had many firsts. But sometime during the course of the Gemini project, the United States pulled ahead of the Soviets in the space race. How did this happen? Jim Oberg, former NASA Engineer, space journalist and historian gives some…..