Mike+Sputnik

SPUTNIK

Throughout the Cold war, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in all aspects of life. This included areas of science, culture, technology, military, politics, and education. Generally speaking, the Americans were used to having the better of the Soviets in all of the topics previously named. But, on October 4, 1957, this all changed. The Soviets launched a metallic sphere into space that could send and receive information from space, back to the Soviet Union. The Soviets were the first country to reach s pace. This event led to mass hysteria and panic in America. What was the metal ball in the sky? What were the Soviets planning? Is it possible to fire weapons from space?

The story behind the American reaction to the launch of the Sputnik began in 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to establish July 1, 1958 to December 1, 1958 as the as the International Geophysical Year (IGY). This meant that the atmospheric conditions were ideal for the launching of artificial satellites to map the surface of the Earth. In response, the white house revealed its intentions to send an Earth-orbiting satellite during the IGY and solicited proposals from various Government research agencies to undertake development. At this time, there was no government run space exploration and research agency so space intelligence came from private institutions. In the following September, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was chosen to represent the U.S. during the IGY.

In October, the Sputnik launch changed everything. It gave the Soviets world attention and knocked the wind out of Americans. First off, it was 180.4 more pounds than what the original Vanguard satellite was going to be. Also, a new fear of the possibility of the Soviets being able to launch missiles from space scared all Americans. In addition on November 3, Sputnik II was launched, carrying a much heavier payload, including a dog named Laika (Garber). ​

American Feelings Pre and Post Sputnik Launch :
 * **Before Sputnik ** || After Sputnik ||
 * The USSR cannot attack the US with nuclear weapons, as its delivery aircraft have limited flight range and can be reliably intercepted. || The USSR can strike the US territory with nuclear weapons, as there is no effective defense against ballistic missiles. ||
 * The United States could theoretically win the nuclear war with the USSR. || Winning the nuclear war with the USSR would be practically impossible. ||
 * The American leadership in the world is unmatched technologically and militarily || The USSR is emerging as a major challenger for world influence and military domination. ||
 * The Soviet missiles might be comparable to those of the United States. || The Soviet missiles apparently have larger lifting capacity than those of the US. ||
 * The democratic free-market system is essential for technological advances in science and technology || The centralized, government controlled system might be more effective for large-scale technological enterprises. ||
 * Developing countries should look up to the United States as a model for economic growth and prosperity. || The third world might feel tempted to ally itself with the USSR to counterweight the dictate of the US. ||
 * The US has the best public education system in the world. || The US education system might be lagging behind of other countries in scientific education. ||
 * <span style="color: #31849b; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 7.5pt; line-height: 200%;">The US is the most technologically advanced nation, the majority of modern technological achievements come from the United States; therefore the first satellite can only be launched by the United States. || <span style="color: #31849b; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 7.5pt; line-height: 200%;">The USSR won the race into space. The US technological supremacy is challenged. ||
 * <span style="color: #31849b; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 7.5pt; line-height: 200%;">The USSR is technologically backward and economically poor agrarian country. || <span style="color: #31849b; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 7.5pt; line-height: 200%;">The USSR perhaps made great advances in many fields of science and technology to enable the satellite launch. ||

( Courteously Zak)

American Reaction to the Sputnik launch was quick and effective during the middle of the Cold War, and can be viewed in the following subcategories:

Technological Cultural References