Interesting Facts & Why I Chose This Topic

Due to the curiosity of the US and USSR of space, many things had been excessively observed. For instance: Over 382 kg of rock samples were returned to the Earth by the Apollo and Luna programs. Also, there are many overlooked interesting facts that many people don't know.For example, the US spent billions of dollars of tax payers' money over the approximate 12 year duration of the space race. The first two animals in space were two mice. On an Apollo mission, a cockroach was deposited onto the moon, and was never found again (www.comedy-zone.net).
Basically, I chose this topic because I am very interested in space. I feel that the space race is the founder of modern day space studies and therefore i figured it would be something worth learning about. Also, when I learned that the whole race was tied into the Cold War it made it more appealing to me because i didn't understand much about the War. Therefore, the space race was an eventful, history-making part of world history that i find interesting.