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Sputnik at 50: Looking Back at the Space Race On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched into orbit a beeping metal ball that grabbed the world's attention. Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite, heightened Cold War tensions, shocking the United States into the space race and sparking a revolution in American science education.
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Sputnik at 50: Looking Back at the Space Race

On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviets launched into orbit a metal ball that grabbed the world's attention.

Opinion

1957 Was the Year of the Icons

Robert Siegel revisits 1957, a year that somehow managed to generate many musical, cultural and scientific icons: West Side Story, The Music Man , Waiting for Godot, Bridge on the River Kwai, Sputnik and more.

1957 Was the Year of the Icons

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Sputnik's Designers Didn't Fathom Its Impact

Sputnik immediately captured the world's imagination with its beeps and its planetary shape, but it took days for the Soviet designers to realize the magnitude of their accomplishment.

Sputnik's Designers Didn't Fathom Its Impact

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Opinion

Sputnik, Space Race Mirror a Personal Journey

Fifty years ago, a basketball-sized satellite went into orbit. Sputnik's successful launch ushered in vast changes in space exploration and in relations between two superpowers. For one commentator, it was the beginning of a more personal journey.

Sputnik, Space Race Mirror a Personal Journey

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Revisiting America's Fear of Sputnik

Fifty years ago today, the first man-made object was launched into outer space. Space journalist Jay Barbree describes the widespread fear and awe caused in America by the Soviet Union's Sputnik satellite.

Revisiting America's Fear of Sputnik

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Space Race Permeated Pop Culture

The space race that began with Sputnik not only influenced education but American pop culture as a whole. David Schwartz, the chief curator of the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, says the phenomenon was pushed by an unlikely person — Walt Disney.

Space Race Permeated Pop Culture

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Sputnik Left Legacy for U.S. Science Education

When the Soviets launched Sputnik into orbit on Oct. 4, 1957, their history-making accomplishment sparked a much-needed revolution in scientific education in the U.S. But today, many educators feel that revolution has lost valuable ground.

Sputnik Left Legacy for U.S. Science Education

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'Sputnik: The Shock of the Century'

Fifty years ago, the Soviet Union's launch of the satellite Sputnik sent shock waves through America, sparked the space race and wrenched the U.S. from its post-war smugness. Author Paul Dickson chronicles the launch and the profound changes in society that followed.

'Sputnik: The Shock of the Century'

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Khrushchev, Schorr Look Back on Sputnik

On Oct. 4, l957, the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite. Sputnik marked the beginning of the Space Age, as well as a turning point in the Cold War. Sergei Khrushchev and Dan Schorr remember this milestone in human history.

Khrushchev, Schorr Look Back on Sputnik

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Sputnik I, the First Satellite to Orbit Earth, Turns 50

In 1957, a little beeping ball stunned the world. Sputnik I, launched 50 years ago on Oct. 4, set the stage for many more satellites to follow and marked the dawn of the space age. Guests discuss Sputnik and its effects on science, education, and the way we view the world.

Sputnik I, the First Satellite to Orbit Earth, Turns 50

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