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Take Back Seat To Iran's Space Monkey  The Space Race was a mid-
to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and
the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between
1957 and 1975, the Cold War rivalry between the two nations
focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were
seen as necessary for national security and symbolic of
technological and ideological superiority. So why over 5 decades
later is Iran taking the lead in space travel?  On January 15,
according to Tehran's state TV, the rocket dubbed "Pishgam," or
"Pioneer" in Farsi, reached a height of 120 kilometers (72
miles), pushing into the threshold of space.   Hamid FazeliHamid
FazeliThe director of Iran's space agency, Hamid Fazeli, said
Iran wants to launch its first manned space mission in as soon
as five years — a goal that stretches back to the shah's
fascination with NASA before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.  The
report not only signals Iran potentia