ASAP!!!
The Space Race officially began on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched an object called Sputnik. Sputnik was an artificial satellite about the size of a beach ball. Its central metal ball had four aerials, and each aerial had a transmitter. It recorded messages that would be relayed back to Earth. After sending messages for 22 days, the batteries ran out. The Russian team was ahead of the American team in the race to space.
In November of 1957, Laika, a Soviet dog, successfully circled the Earth in Sputnik 2. If a dog could handle the body stress of a rocket launch, perhaps a human could, too. This was promising information for the scientists.
Satellites were used to collect information so scientists could learn more about space. Launched on January 31, 1958, the American Explorer 1 was sent to track cosmic rays, while a crew on Earth awaited details. By May of 1958, the batteries ran out and the messages stopped. Both countries had started their exploration of space.

True or False. The content in this section of the text helps the reader understand the race to space in time order.
a) True
b) False