The Soviets had their own even larger version of Operation Paperclip called Operation Osoaviakhim.  It is easy to image the world today with that influence:

First Artificial Satellite: Sputnik 1 (October 4, 1957) was the first man-made object to orbit Earth.
First Animal in Orbit: Laika the dog orbited Earth aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957.
First Human in Space: Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth on April 12, 1961, aboard Vostok 1.
First Woman in Space: Valentina Tereshkova orbited the Earth 48 times in Vostok 6 in 1963.
First Spacewalk (EVA): Alexei Leonov spent 12 minutes outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft in 1965.
First Space Station: The Soviet Union launched Salyut 1 in 1971.
First Moon Impact & Photos: Luna 2 was the first to impact the moon (1959), and Luna 3 took the first photos of the far side of the moon (1959).
First Robotic Moon Rover: Luna 17 delivered the Lunokhod 1 rover to the lunar surface in 1970.
First Venus Landing & Data: Venera 7 was the first spacecraft to land on another planet (Venus) and transmit data back in 1970.
First Modular Space Station: Mir was the first consistently inhabited, long-term, modular space station, launched in 1986.