Sputnik I

The date is October 4, 1957 and the Americans are in complete shock. On this date the Russian satellite, Sputnik I, was sent into orbit and it launched a new era of technology and scientific findings. This satellite was the cause of the international space race as well as brining about the fear of being technologically inferior to the Soviet Union. This inferiority was inflicted upon the United States’ public. It was also one of the effects of the Cold War.
Sputnik I was the revolutionary satellite that started the space race. It was the first satellite to reach outer space and the first to fully orbit the earth. The U.S.S.R. launched it during the Cold War on October 4, 1957. It was about the size of a basketball and weighed in at 183 lbs. This amazing feat in history orbited the earth every 96 minutes and 6 seconds. The U.S.S.R. developed Sputnik I as an experimental satellite to test their possibilities of expanding to the “last frontier” as many call it. The satellite t...