Historical Significance

Space Race propaganda is historically significant because propaganda changed the outcome of the Space Race, impacted the Cold War, and established the foundation for future U.S. space exploration.

In the short term, propaganda gave people the confidence and drive to meet a concrete goal, as indicated by the diagram below:

As a result, the U.S. won the Space Race on July 20, 1969 when it landed on the moon. 

In the long term, Space Race propaganda had effects as shown below: 

Today, private space companies, like SpaceX and Blue Origin, and China's space program are influencing space exploration, but their future propaganda and impacts are yet to be determined.