Fifty five years ago today
From Clara Moskowitz writing at
Space.com:
How Sputnik Changed the World 55 Years Ago Today
Fifty-five years ago today, the Space Race was kicked into gear by a silver basketball flying through the sky.
Sputnik 1, the Soviet probe that became the first manmade object to reach space, launched Oct. 4, 1957. The feat proved the Soviet Union's technological bonafides and spurred the United States into stepping up its game in space.
The anniversary is being marked by the 13th annual World Space Week, which includes hundreds of space-themed events in dozens of countries from Oct. 4 through Oct. 10.
I was six at the time and still remember the shock over the event -- that the 'backward Ruskies' could do something of this magnitude.
Posted by DaveH at October 4, 2012 5:47 PM