That is exactly why the U.S. wanted to do it, in order to one-up the Soviet Union, who were perceived as leading the space race at the time.
这正是为什么美国想要这样做的原因——为了领先苏联。那时人们曾认为苏联处于太空竞争的领先地位。
Part of the reason is that the space race was ill-conceived from the start.
其中部分原因应当归咎于:太空竞赛从一开始就是个病态的构想。
Science spending was huge, the space race was going at full speed, the education level of the population increased dramatically.
科学投入巨大,太空竞赛正在全速进行,全民的教育水平急剧增长。
It's a mistake to take the space race term and just blindly apply it.
开启太空竞赛并盲目使用它是一个错误。
At least the space race had a military rationale.
太空竞赛至少有军事上的需要。
According to Obama, the country needed historic new levels of research and development akin to the massive investment that fueled the space race with the Soviets in the 1960s.
他认为,美国如今需要投入历史性的科技研发,其投资应相当于1960年代点燃美苏太空竞赛的水平。
But the veil of secrecy, and the barriers thrown up by the cold war, have meant that the Soviet half of the space race remains, by comparison, a largely unknown story.
但是由于冷战导致的壁垒,加之苏联隐秘的作风,致使前苏联太空竞赛的大半细节仍不得而知。
Although it is often remembered as an exercise in technology, the space race was just as much a competition in public relations.
太空竞赛尽管总被认为是技术竞争,其实倒不如说是公共关系的竞争。
It was a surprise to the world, a shock to many Americans, and the starting gun for the space race between the superpowers.
在冷战中,这个消息震惊了世界,并给美国人带来巨大沖击,同时也是两个超级大国间太空竞赛的发令枪响。