In 1993, when I visited the Air and Space Museum in
Moscow, Russia, prominently displayed in a special area
was a replica of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial
satellite which was launched into space by the then Soviet
Union on October 4, 1957.
I had read about Sputnik in the history books, but, could
this odd-looking creation which resembled a metal
basketball with four antennas be the scientific
breakthrough that had sent waves of panic over America? It
was truly amazing to think that something so small (it
weighed all of 184 pounds) and innocent-looking could have
been considered a threat to America’s security and place
as a world power.
Back in 1957 the Cold War was in full swing. The Soviet
Union and Communism were considered to be a growing threat
to American democracy.
With the launching of Sputnik, the Soviet Union completely
took America by surprise. The satellite was equipped with
a transmitters broadcasting at 20 and 40 MHz for the
benefit of the rest of the world and America in
particular. As Sputnik passed overhead they could pick up
the blips on their shortwave radios and be reminded of the
Communists’ feat of technological superiority.
Americans were frightened. If the Russians could launch
this thing into space, could they use the technology to
drop an atomic bomb on us? Or could they be spying on our
every move?
America’s anxiety only deepened with the launch of Sputnik
2 a month later. This time, they were able to launch a
small dog into space, proving they could send up an even
heavier weight load
America had Vanguard, its own space program, but it had
not been successful. It was not until March of 1958 that
Vanguard I was able to repeat Sputnik’s success.
But most importantly for the United States, Sputnik, and
the fear anxiety it spawned, became the catalyst for the
birth of NASA and the American emphasis on aerospace. In
1961, President Kennedy challenged the Russians in a race
to see who could land the first man on the moon.
When one thinks of all the scientific discoveries that
have been bi-products of the American space program, it is
amazing to think that we might not have any of them had it
not been for that odd-looking ball that changed the course
of history.
