<Li> The Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union gave a peaceful outlet to the political and military tensions of the Cold War, leading to the first human spaceflight with the Soviet Union's Vostok 1 mission in 1961, and man's first landing on another world--the Moon--with America's Apollo 11 mission in 1969 . Later, the first space station was launched by the Soviet space program . The United States developed the first reusable spacecraft system with the Space Shuttle program, first launched in 1981 . As the century ended, a permanent manned presence in space was being founded with the ongoing construction of the International Space Station . </Li> <Li> In addition to human spaceflight, unmanned space probes became a practical and relatively inexpensive form of exploration . The first orbiting space probe, Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957 . Over time, a massive system of artificial satellites was placed into orbit around Earth . These satellites greatly advanced navigation, communications, military intelligence, geology, climate, and numerous other fields . Also, by the end of the 20th century, unmanned probes had visited the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and various asteroids and comets . The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, greatly expanded our understanding of the Universe and brought brilliant images to TV and computer screens around the world . </Li> <Li> The Global Positioning System, a series of satellites that allow land - based receivers to determine their exact location, was developed and deployed . </Li> <Ul> <Li> The Vatican II council was held from 1962 to 1965, and resulted in significant changes in the Catholic Church . </Li> <Li> The Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam gained in influence with the growth of Saudi Arabia . </Li> <Li> Multiple new religions were founded, including the Nation of Islam, Scientology, and the Pentecostalism movement . </Li> <Li> Atheism became considerably more common, both in secular Western countries, and Communist countries with a policy of state atheism . </Li> </Ul>

What was the effect of the two world wars on 20th century literature