You are not logged in
International
The creation of Sputnik was just another engineering job for the Soviet team who built it. With German rocket genius Wernher von Braun now working for the Americans, and passionate to be the first to create an Earth-orbiting satellite, the Soviets secretly worked on their own contender. However, just two days before launch, the top-secret project came close to failure. Technicians discovered that the wrong soldering methods has caused a loose contact in the flight battery. Swiftly the error was rectified and Sputnik was successfully launched into orbit on 4 October 1957.
The 23-inch aluminium satellite passed unnoticed over the United States twice before the Soviets announced their technological success to the world. Tracked by ham radio enthusiasts across America, Sputnik sang out its distant beeps as it orbited the planet.
The US Congress was alarmed by this scientific supremacy and focused on their own space ambitions. Historically, missile research was conducted by the USAF, and aeronautic research was undertaken by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The Sputnik crisis provoked immediate and swift action in the form of the National Aeronautics and Space Act. Signed by President Eisenhower, the Act produced a new federal agency to conduct all non-military activity in space.
NASA was born on 29 July 1958 and immediately concentrated on manned space flight. Built on 43 successful years of aeronautic research, NASA seamlessly replaced its forebear NACA, but the new agency had very different objectives and a much wider scope.
The 23-inch aluminium satellite passed unnoticed over the United States twice before the Soviets announced their technological success to the world. Tracked by ham radio enthusiasts across America, Sputnik sang out its distant beeps as it orbited the planet.
The US Congress was alarmed by this scientific supremacy and focused on their own space ambitions. Historically, missile research was conducted by the USAF, and aeronautic research was undertaken by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The Sputnik crisis provoked immediate and swift action in the form of the National Aeronautics and Space Act. Signed by President Eisenhower, the Act produced a new federal agency to conduct all non-military activity in space.
NASA was born on 29 July 1958 and immediately concentrated on manned space flight. Built on 43 successful years of aeronautic research, NASA seamlessly replaced its forebear NACA, but the new agency had very different objectives and a much wider scope.
