After more than a decade of experiments, Nazi Germany launched its first successful V-2 rocket in October 1942. The Vengeance Weapon 2 was constructed to catapult warheads to long-range targets. Capable of delivering one ton of explosives more than 150 miles in just five minutes, the V-2 proved its worth as an effective weapon of terror. Nearly 3,000 V-2s were launched against England, France and Belgium during World War II.

At the close of the war, captured V-2s became the building blocks for the development of rocketry in both the United States and the Soviet Union. Intelligence units scrambled to uncover supplies, information and personnel associated with German rocket technology.

While postwar U.S. leaders still believed bombers were better suited to their needs, the Soviets continued to develop rockets and ballistic missiles. With the launch of Sputnik in 1957, Americans began to fear they were lagging behind Soviet scientists in technology. Both sides realized the same rocket that could deliver a warhead could also send a man into orbit -- and the space race was on.