Sputnik 1
A backup Sputnik 1 satellite on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Launched by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957, Sputnik 1 was little more than a polished aluminum sphere just 58 centimeters across, trailing four radio antennas that broadcast a simple, steady beep audible to amateur radio operators around the world. It carried no scientific instruments to speak of, but as the first human-made object to orbit the Earth it stunned the American public and policymakers alike, who had assumed Western technological superiority was unquestioned. The "Sputnik crisis" that followed reshaped American science education and funding and directly triggered the Space Race, leading to the creation of NASA less than a year later. Read more in our article on Sputnik, Telstar, and the age of satellites.
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