“One Small Step…”
1961 – 1969
After years of lagging behind Soviet space exploits, the United States put its full intellectual and economic weight behind the “race to the moon”. President Kennedy initiated Project Mercury. Ultimately, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration would overcome enormous technological hurdles to place a man on the moon. As Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot upon the moon’s surface, descended from the space craft, he uttered the immortal line “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” In so doing, he confirmed an American come-back victory in the space race between the superpowers.
Time: Mid War
Side: Neutral
Ops: 2
Removed after event: No
There are a couple of uses for this card. The most common is to leapfrog onto the 2/0 VP space to claim the 2VPs for yourself; then this event is like a 4VP swing (maybe adjusted for space race luck?) and worth it. You can also stop an opponent from peeking at your headline, and occasionally be able to jump ahead to the 3/1 VP space (even more useful than the 2/0 space). In general it is more effective the later it is played, like Captured Nazi Scientist.
It is best played when you are exactly one space behind your opponent, so that you can reap the benefit of the slot you are jumping to. Occasionally it is worth it to jump to the peek-at-headline space when you are two boxes behind your opponent, but ideally you’d space something first, and then use One Small Step to get the 3/1 VP bonus too.
One Small Step is often also a hidden source of VPs. Among experienced players that try to keep track of what cards can still award VPs in the Late War, One Small Step is commonly forgotten.
The great danger One Small Step poses (like Captured Nazi Scientist) is that you could leap too far forward and no longer be able to space 2Ops cards. This is especially a problem for the USSR, who would love to peek at your headline, but perhaps not if she can no longer send Grain Sales to Soviets and The Voice of America to space.
Of course, if you are ahead on the space race, then none of this matters and it’s just 2 Ops.
Incidentally I don’t really understand why this isn’t starred. Perhaps if you play it for a second time, you are going to Mars.
Twilight Strategy 
>Incidentally I don’t really understand why this isn’t starred. Perhaps if you play it for a second time, you are going to Mars.
More likely for gameplay issues. But I’d like also to heve mentioned somehow the sucessful come-back of Soviet in space with MIR space-station in mid ’80.
“The great danger One Small Step poses (like Captured Nazi Scientist) is that you could leap too far forward and no longer be able to space 2Ops cards.”
I don’t understand this line… are you implying that you lose the benefits of a space race box if you reach the next one? Because that is not the case (rule 6.4.4: “…The effects of these special abilities are immediate and cumulative.”)
Ugh, this problem comes up every time I make a post on this (happened on the Space Race post too). 🙂
I am trying to communicate that once you reach the “peek at headline” box, you can longer send to space a “2-Ops card” (like Grain Sales).
Not your fault, it’s just difficult to write this sentence clearly without possibility of ambiguity.
Derp. Yeah, I understand, misread the 2Ops as 2 cards, I guess.
“Incidentally I don’t really understand why this isn’t starred. Perhaps if you play it for a second time, you are going to Mars.”
Thematically I agree, but I’ve never seen it get played for the event twice in a game anyway.
The only time I ever made it to the Space Station was because I was able to play this card twice.
I think it should have added: “If you are not behind on the Space Race track play this card to move you marker one box forward on the Space Race track, gaining VP value (if any).
Rules clarification question: If my opponent has successfully finished the Space Race and I am one step before finishing it and I play this for the event, is it an empty event or do I succeed to finish Space Race too?