October 4, 1957

[SamuelKhan]

Nine years before I was born...the world changed forever.

A man-made object was orbiting and transmitting signals for the very first time from space. The Soviets now had a rocket powerful enough to reach outer space, which also meant they could send warheads this way as well. The space race had begun...

“Sputnik 1 was launched on October 4, 1957. The satellite was 58 cm (about 23 in) in diameter and weighed approximately 83.6 kg (about 183 lb). Each of its elliptical orbits around the Earth took about 96 minutes. Monitoring of the satellite was done by Amateur radio operators. The first long-range flight of the R-7 booster used to launch it had occurred on August 21 and was described in Aviation Week. Sputnik 1 was not visible from Earth but the casing of the R-7 booster, traveling behind it, was.”

http://todayinspacehistory.wordpress.com/2007/10/04/october-4-1957-the-russians-launch-sputnik/

 

[venray]

I was 3.....space race, cold war. threat of nuclear war. We made it through some rough times, so I guess we can make it through the crap we are facing today....

 

[Bugman]

I was a few months shy of my third birthday so I didn't witness it, but we learned about it in school. Then, on April 12 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gargarian became the first man to orbit Earth. On May 5 1961 Alan Shepherd became the first American in space with his suborbital flight at the helm of Freedom 7. The Russians were kicking us around in space but Shepherd and Freedom 7 paved the way for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, leading to that unforgettable day July 20 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man to stand on the Moon.

 

[milagros317]

I was 7 years old when that satellite was launched and I remember the excitement and distress that the Soviets had done it before us.
The huge amounts of Federal money put into science and science education after that lasted (fortunately for me) until I needed financial aid in college. As a math major, I could get Department of Defense student loans, no interest until a year after graduation.

 

[paracarl44]

I was in Junior High School, and a friend of mine had a radio that we listened to the Beep-Beep-Beep as it circled the earth.

This event started The Space Race, as if the Russians could orbit a satellite they could also orbit bombs.

 

[b0xr]

That was 12 days before I was born. We did catch up.

 

[Bothersome]

You people... are all... ancient.