The US space program was built on former Nazi expertise through Operation Paperclip

US secrets: Project Paperclip

The US launched Project Paperclip in 1946, covertly recruiting over 1,500 German scientists to advance American military and space programs. Among them was Wernher von Braun, a key architect of the V-2 rocket who later became instrumental in NASA’s Apollo missions. While these scientists accelerated technological breakthroughs, their recruitment raised moral debates about overlooking wartime affiliations in the name of progress—questions that remain unresolved today.

Meet the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project.

A short history of space exploration

Let us to take you back through the timeline of space exploration and its rich, fascinating history, starting in 1946, with a rudimentary German military rocket.

NASA was founded in response to early Soviet space achievements

Although starting behind in the Space Race in 1958, NASA became a global leader in humanity's exploration of space with the Apollo program, which placed astronauts on the moon. Since then, it has been responsible for the construction of multiple telescopes, the International Space Station, and development of the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon before eventually reaching Mars.

Spies working on the Manhattan Project propelled the Soviet bomb program

Soviet infiltration—most notably by Klaus Fuchs—smuggled detailed implosion-design and hydrogen‑bomb data from Los Alamos to Moscow, cutting the USSR’s development time by at least a year and enabling their first atomic test in August 1949.

The US once had a plan to nuke the moon

In the 1950s, the US considered detonating a hydrogen bomb on the moon as part of a Cold War show of force. Known as Project A119, the classified plan aimed to create a visible explosion from Earth to signal American dominance in the Space Race.

The US once had a plan to nuke the moon

In the 1950s, the US considered detonating a hydrogen bomb on the moon as part of a Cold War show of force. Known as Project A119, the classified plan aimed to create a visible explosion from Earth to signal American dominance in the space race.

The Apollo program built US space technology and showcased its Cold War dominance

Beyond landing humans on the moon for the first time, Apollo served to advance rocket engineering and guidance systems through crewed and uncrewed missions. By Apollo 15, the Lunar Roving Vehicle was developed and driven on the moon.

NASA was created in 1958 in the wake of the Sputnik 1 launch

The launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 jolted US political leaders, who urgently consulted scientists and defense experts on how to respond. Concerns about Soviet technological dominance—and the promise of civilian space applications—led directly to NASA’s creation in 1958.

The Bauhaus artists who became Nazi collaborators

The Nazis deplored the Bauhaus style, until they found a way to use it for themselves. This deep dive explores the connection between the Nazis and three Bauhaus-affiliated designers—Franz Ehrlich, who was sent to Buchenwald and forced to design the camp's gates (seen below), Fritz Ertl, who designed the shower rooms at Auschwitz, and Herbert Bayer, who helped design Third Reich propaganda.

Hear about the rivalries and unlikely figures that defined the space race

American History Tellers explores the space race across four episodes, tracing stories from Wernher von Braun's push to turn missiles into rockets to the intrigue surrounding Apollo 11 and the moon landing that symbolized the race's end.

One US psychiatrist at Nuremberg viewed top Nazis like Göring as normal

The surviving leaders of the Nazi movement had overseen a catastrophic war and the cruel extermination of millions. US psychiatrist Douglas Kelley evaluated the 22 men ahead of their infamous trials, viewing them as intelligent, cultured men without a moral compass. Kelley would later die by suicide.

The Manhattan Project created secret cities that didn’t appear on maps

To maintain secrecy, the US built three remote research facilities and entire “secret cities” to house thousands of workers and families. These communities—home to tens of thousands—were omitted from official maps until after World War II.

Designs for the Hubble Space Telescope were based on Cold War spy satellites

By incorporating elements of the KH-11 KENNEN reconnaissance satellites, NASA could incorporate existing classified manufacturing expertise and infrastructure from the intelligence community to expedite the research project.

NASA was created by Congress in 1958

Created by Congress under the National Aeronautics and Space Act, NASA officially began in 1958, building on earlier aviation research and positioning the US to compete in the Space Race and lead global space exploration.

The Manhattan Project, the top-secret American program that built the world's first atomic bomb, cost $27B in today's dollars and reshaped global power.

Some senior Nazis fled to South America and lived for decades

Using so-called "ratlines" through Spain, Italy, and into South American countries like Argentina, many of Adolf Hitler's closest associates evaded capture after the fall of Berlin in 1945. This video details the fate of eight, including infamous doctor Josef Mengele and logistics expert Adolf Eichmann.

The space race was a Cold War rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union that culminated in the US landing astronauts on the moon in 1969.

View 60 years of NASA space exploration

Established in 1958—a year after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has taken humanity into outer space and helped reveal the nature of the universe. Historic moments include the Apollo 11 mission putting humanity on the Moon and construction of the International Space Station.

Learn how the Soviets won the early space race

This video traces how Cold War arms competition transformed rocketry into a symbol of global power, following pioneers like Tsiolkovsky and von Braun through World War II and into the 1950s, culminating in the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik I in 1957.

What was the Space Race?

​Want to know more about the Space Race? This article from the National Air and Space Museum dives into this intense Cold War competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Explore how the race transitioned from military rivalry to a quest for space exploration dominance, leading to milestones like the first satellite, Sputnik, and the iconic Apollo 11 Moon landing.

View a collection of digital museum resources about the Apollo program

Created by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, this collection includes detailed biographies of astronauts and scientists who worked on the program and interactive features on the technologies that made it possible.

Although it drew inspiration from spaceplane concepts of the 1920s, the Space Shuttle program began to take shape after the Space Race, as the US sought to establish a space station and a reusable transportation system for astronauts and satellites.

Worried that Nazi Germany could weaponize nuclear fission first, Albert Einstein wrote a 1939 letter warning President Roosevelt about the possibility of atomic bombs—a decision he later regretted.

Building the first atomic bomb required unprecedented coordination

Creating the first atomic bombs demanded breakthroughs in physics, engineering, and logistics—uniting elite scientists with tens of thousands of workers across the US. This in-depth history explains how the Manhattan Project overcame those challenges.

Cold War soft power helped sell the space race to the American public

The fear of Soviet dominance prompted the US to invest heavily in space, but public support was also crucial. This video shows how marketing, media, and "soft power" framed spaceflight as peaceful, aspirational, and worth the cost—helping sustain the space race at home.

NASA purchased about 60% of all integrated circuits from 1961 to 1965

The US government adopted the new technology to support the development of the Apollo Guidance Computer, which would help astronauts fly to the moon. This drove manufacturing up and costs down, setting the stage for the modern computing era.

The X-37B is America's secretive long-duration space plane

The second iteration of the Space Race is already heating up between the US and China, with both countries working to develop technologies for space superiority. Among those, the X-37B has stoked fears in Beijing that the vehicle could one day deliver powerful weapons from space.

The 1969 moon landing was a defining Cold War victory for the US

When Apollo 11 astronauts stepped onto the moon in July 1969, it marked a dramatic win in the US-Soviet space race. The televised landing—broadcast across the globe—showcased American technological supremacy.

India's space program began in a church at Earth's magnetic equator

As the US pushed to land a man on the moon, NASA looked for global partners to help map the conditions of the sky above Earth for launches. After Pakistan's initial attempt was sidelined, India pushed to be that partner. This long read details key episodes of frugality and ingenuity in India's space race, including its beginnings at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Thumba.

Sci-fi author Ray Bradbury offered to help aid the Kennedy Administration during the 1960s Space Race.

A four-part podcast traces how the Manhattan Project reshaped the world

This podcast series explores the origins of the Manhattan Project, its secret cities, and the scientists behind it—showing how the effort contributed to the end of World War II, launched the Atomic Age, and later led Oppenheimer to become a critic of nuclear weapons.

In 13 years, Hitler transformed a fringe sect into Germany’s dominant political force

The BBC Radio 4 podcast Nazis: The Road to Power chronicles Hitler’s meteoric rise—from fewer than 100 followers in 1910s Bavaria to absolute control by 1933—highlighting key conspiracies, political deals, brutal street violence, and forgotten figures that paved the way for Nazi tyranny.

Space tourism opportunities have been explored since the end of the Apollo era

In the 1970s, Rockwell International, a NASA contractor, and others investigated manufacturing passenger modules that could fit into the Space Shuttle's payload bay. NASA also opened spaceflights to nongovernment professionals, but many such programs were ended after the Challenger disaster, which killed the first Teacher in Space participant.

Hitler's 1941 invasion of the USSR doomed Nazi Germany

Hitler unleashed Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, underestimating Soviet resilience, Russian winter, and logistics. His overconfidence—rooted in early victories like France—turned this campaign into a strategic catastrophe, shifting the war’s momentum irreversibly—often cited as his greatest blunder.

The origin of atmospheric science while testing nuclear weapons during the Cold War

The arms race between the US and the Soviet Union saw both countries stockpiling and detonating hundreds of bombs underground, underwater, and in the atmosphere. To better predict where nuclear fallout would travel after these tests, scientists developed models that would serve as a foundation for those used to explain atmospheric circulation.

The history and operation of SIGABA, the US counterpart of the Nazi Enigma machine

Developed by the US Army and US Navy, over 10,000 of these machines were deployed by the end of World War II to encrypt messages for the armed forces using three series of rotors. The device would continue to be used until the 1950s, while personal computers were shown to possess enough computing power to crack it by 2021.

See a timeline of the space race

This interactive timeline chronicles the space race from its Cold War origins to the moon landing, highlighting key figures, pivotal moments, and rapid technological advancements. It combines archival photos, video, and links to related material.

Space travel sparked inventions we now use every day

Technologies developed for space exploration produced lasting spinoff innovations—from camera phones to memory foam—displaying how the space race reshaped everyday life here on Earth

NASA and SpaceX combine public support and funding with private enterprise

Rather than competitors, SpaceX and NASA are mutually beneficial collaborators. Without NASA contracts, SpaceX may have run out of funding, and without the low-cost tech of SpaceX, NASA may have been left without a US-based launch system.

The Nazi Party was founded in Germany in 1920 and tried a failed coup in 1923

Founded in Germany in February 1920, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) attempted its first major power grab in 1923 with the Beer Hall Putsch—a failed coup in Munich that killed about 16 Nazis and four police officers, led to Hitler’s arrest and treason trial, but ultimately elevated his public profile.

There were dozens of attempts to assassinate Hitler—most famously Operation Valkyrie in July 1944

Across his reign, Hitler survived at least 40 plotted and actual assassination attempts, ranging from lone actors in beer halls to organized military conspiracies. The most notable, Operation Valkyrie on July 20, 1944, led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, planted a bomb at the Wolf’s Lair in an effort to kill Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime. Though the explosion injured several, Hitler escaped with minor wounds, prompting a brutal purge of conspirators.

Only 34% of Americans supported the Apollo program in 1967

After a fire killed three astronauts on the launchpad of Apollo 1, the public became ambivalent about funding the multibillion-dollar program until the successful moon landing in 1969. The landers alone cost $388M, while each spacesuit cost $100,000.

The origin of the National Science Foundation and why World War II led to its founding

Before World War II, research institutions were funded by endowments or private companies whose priorities stifled the curiosity-driven science that fueled significant breakthroughs and innovation. The NSF was established in 1950 to promote independent scientific progress through basic research, which is focused on knowledge acquisition rather than commercial applications, conducted at national colleges and universities.

James Webb championed both space science and human spaceflight at NASA

As NASA Administrator during the 1960s, Webb prioritized a balanced approach between manned missions and scientific research, fostering advancements in astronomy, robotic exploration, and university involvement. Despite having no background in science or engineering, Webb oversaw more than 75 space science mission.

Adolf Hitler deeply admired Henry Ford, citing him as an inspiration for "Mein Kampf"

Hitler frequently praised Ford's anti-semitic viewpoints, both before and during the Holocaust. While Ford denied being sympathetic to the Nazi regime, Hitler kept a portrait of Ford on his desk, and Ford accepted the highest military award available to a foreign citizen from the Nazi government.

Eleven deaf men played a pivotal role in America's human spaceflight program

In the mid-20th century, 11 deaf men volunteered for a series of experiments that offered unprecedented insights into the effects of weightlessness on the human body. Most of the men had become deaf in early childhood as a result of spinal meningitis, a condition known to damage the vestibular system and make them less susceptible to motion sickness. For a decade, these men participated in extreme motion sickness situations, including living in a slowly spinning room, spending time in centrifuge pods designed to simulate hypergravity, and flying in parabolic flights sometimes referred to as the "Vomit Comet." (Some users may experience a paywall.)

30 everyday inventions originally created for space

In their pioneering work to develop the technologies necessary for humans to inhabit space, NASA and its counterpart agencies around the world have produced dozens of products millions of people use everyday. Some of these are obvious, like water filtration systems and wireless headsets, while many are surprising, like artificial limbs and insulin pumps. Dive into the list here.

The Manhattan Project operated at three key sites, each with a distinct role in building the first atomic bomb.

The USSR's space program achieved many historic firsts in the Space Race

Soviet scientists launched the first satellite, sent the first human into orbit, and carried out early spacewalks—milestones that gave the USSR a decisive early lead in the Space Race and reshaped global competition in science and technology.