Sputnik crisis
One of the direct results of the Sputnik crisis was the creation of the [[Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (ARPA), known today as [[Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]] or DARPA. At this time, computers were [[History of computing hardware|making the transition]] from a [[vacuum tube]]-based architecture to a [[transistors]] architecture, where computers were evolving into general purpose machines. To spur research in areas relating to the feasibility of human space flight, ARPA issued a numerous government grants to both academic institution and industries to research technical details of communication between Earth and an orbiting satellite.