Read these passages from The Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff Soviet rocket success While the Americans were making breakthroughs in aeronautics, the Soviets began testing some German V-2 rockets of their own. Their first successful launch came on October 30, 1947. They managed to hit a target 185 miles away! First man-made object in space! On February 24, 1949, the US Army launched the Bumper 5 rocket form White Sands, New Mexico. At an altitude of 244 miles, the rocket became the first artificial object in outer space. By comparing the Soviet rocket success with the US Army rocket launch, the authors