oct 4, 1957 - 1st Sputnik Launched in space

Description:

https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/Site-prior-to-Easyweb-migration/chrono3.html

On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union inaugurated the Space Age with the launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. 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. 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. The United States met the challenge by launching its own satellites and creating NASA to oversee its civilian space program. 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.
^ https://www.nasa.gov/history/65-years-ago-sputnik-ushers-in-the-space-age/

Added to timeline:

Date: