Sputnik turns 50

Fifty years ago today, the USSR successfully launched the first ever man-made Earth satellite. The orbiter was nothing more than a beachball-sized metal sphere that contained a radio and batteries to emit a beeping signal. The beeping little orbiter, named Sputnik, carried on for about two days before it faded into oblivion. Many Americans recall the eerie bleeping that was received by radio operators and replayed on radio and TV newscasts.

Those of us who were not around back then may be surprised to learn the emotional toll that Sputnik caused on most Americans. The Sputnik program was held completely secret to the public. It as only until after the launch that Americans (and even the Russian populace) heard the shocking news. In the height of the cold war, the thought that communist Russia had technologically surpassed the US was distasteful to most Americans, not to mention scary. If communists can put a radio beacon in orbit that can fly over America every 90 minutes, many Americans worried about what would come next - a spy satellite, or worse a warhead.

It was a real wake-up call to the US space program. President Kennedy announced the goal of landing on the moon within 3 years. The space race was on, thanks to that beachball in orbit. link