Being a nerd-American, I have to note the sixtieth anniversary of the launching of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite launched into Earth orbit. The successful launch of the satellite was a propaganda coup for the Soviet Union, demonstrating that Soviet science and engineering had overtaken that of the West, and setting off a panic. If the Soviets could launch a sphere into space, they had rockets which could hit Wichita or Des Moines. Behold, the sound of terror:
The BBC Newshour had great coverage of the repurposing of a radio telescope by an English astro-engineer to track Sputnik 1's orbit. At any rate, the launching of Sputnik galvanized the U.S. government to create NASA and the 'Space Race' was ignited. Sixty years later, things seem to have stagnated, but the untenanted probes have performed spectacularly.
Regarding 'Sputnik Moments', the World's Sexiest Astrophysicist has something to say:
Me? I'd prefer to see international cooperation in space. Dwight Eisenhower pointedly created NASA as a civilian space agency, which gave the US a 'public relations' advantage over the USSR's military space agency. Every inhabitant of the Earth should eventually get a shot at a new life in off-world colonies:
Hopefully, humanity will get its act together, put violent conflicts behind it, and join in a grand interplanetary adventure. The launching of Sputnik 1 may have launched a panic, but that panic resulted in positive action. Well, it also resulted in at least one novelty song:
Now, that's got to be the second best song ever written about a satellite.
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Allow me to take a moment, then, and strongly recommend Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield)'s book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life On Earth".
As the twitter handle indicates, he was the ISS commander on his last flight - and as an active twitter user we had the opportunity to interact with him during that flight. He's also Canadian, which gives him and interesting perspective into NASA and the Russians in Star City.
He's a good writer, and a very interesting man. And if you want a laugh, google his name and 'snake'. He is the only known survivor of an actual Snakes on a Plane event...
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