How Sputnik Changed American Culture

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Have you ever wondered what it was like at the height of the cold war? Everything was going your way. Then, the Soviets launch a satellite into space. It changed the course of American history. We were supposed to be the first to explore space. This made some officials jealous, like Eisenhower. Others were scared. Could they bomb us? Keep reading to find out why. R7 was test launched 5 times before the Soviet scientists got it to reach it target hight. They replaced the heavy satellite they had with Sputnik. It was just over 83 kilograms. With that success they launched another one on October 1,1957 and achieving the record of the first man made satellite in space.This was not just a military advancement, it was a man's dream come true. It was October 4, 1957, when Sputnik was launched. It weight 184 pounds and was roughly the size of a basketball. Others would say the size of a beach ball. The exact measurement was 58 centimeters. It was equipped with two radio transmitters that …show more content…

How bad? Think about seeing a rip in your bungee-jumping cord -- about two-seconds too late. After Sputnik, the exciting ride of the Cold War became a dangerous, arduous race to technology. By demonstrating an ominous -- but short-lived -- Soviet lead in rocketry, Sputnik intensified the terror over nuclear annihilation. Coming at a time when science -- and its products like penicillin, radar and the atomic bomb -- was credited with helping win World War II, Sputnik raised the prospect that Red scientists might win the Cold War. Eisenhower was a great American scientist. His administration downgraded Sputnik as useless hunk of iron. The launch of Explorer 1 in 1958 not only allowed the United States into the space race but also allowed our citizens to rest without the thought of a nuclear war. This was a big milestone in American history. Sputnik was more than just a satellite; it began to symbolize much more than just a scanner in

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