A cloud above the clouds: US, China race to make space a computing platform

In 1957, the Soviet Union kicked off the Cold War’s Space Race, shocking the world by sending Sputnik, the world’s first Artificial Satellite, into orbit.Four years later, it did the same to cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, making him the first human in space. In 1969, the US provided another image that defined the era: Neil Armstrong leaving the Eagle lunar lander and planting the American flag on the moon, declaring it “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”For the two superpowers, the Space Race was an ideological contest measured in firsts – with each milestone setting down a marker for technological know-how, national pride and a renewed commitment to push beyond the bounds of Earth.