![]() ![]() Right: A technician makes final preparations on Sputnik before its launch.īoth the United States and the Soviet Union declared their intentions to launch an artificial Earth satellite during the IGY, a multinational effort of comprehensive scientific studies of the Earth and its environment, held between July 1, 1957, and December 31, 1958. Left: An R-7 rocket breaks up soon after launch during a test flight in May 1957. The competition led to the rapid development of space capabilities by both countries, first putting animals and then humans in space and, 12 years after Sputnik’s launch, landing the first men on the Moon. The United States met the challenge by launching its own satellites and creating NASA to oversee its civilian space program. Sputnik’s launch caught the United States by surprise, beginning a space race between the two countries, as each superpower sought to achieve preeminence in the high frontier. Launched as a contribution to the International Geophysical Year (IGY), Sputnik weighed 184 pounds and orbited the Earth every 90 minutes, sending out a signal that amateur radio operators around the world could monitor. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union inaugurated the Space Age with the launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite.
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