In what way was the Cold War affected by the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States?

Sped up the cold war through technological contributions

Explanation:

The cold war was war between the United States and the Soviet Union which was against communism.

The United States got worried when the Soviet Union launched their satellite Sputnik. The worried came in the realization that the Soviet Union could launch a nuclear weapon from space targeting the United States. The United States needed to catch up to the Soviet Union space efforts by building and launching their own satellite into space. The United States however got a shock when the Soviet Union launch Sputnik 2.

The Soviet Union was always ahead in the space race until the first man on the moon which the United States achieved.

The space race prompted both countries to exceed each other by building satellites and missiles. This accelerated the progress of the cold war and the process of technology development. The cold war was affected by the technological contributions made by both sides.