Facts about the space race between us and USSR?

The Space Race began a whole series of events. In the US, an entire "Sputnik" craze broke out following the launch of the first satellite by the Soviet Union. Also, during the space race, NASA felt the need to develop a ballpoint pen which would work in zero-gravity conditions. After spending 1 million dollars on research, the pen was developed successfully. Funnily enough, the Soviet Union had the same problem; they used a pencil.