Sputnik moments: Trio of spaceflight events shook US in 1957
Roger Launius
But Americans' concerns about the technological capabilities of their own nation relative to those of the USSR didn't fully bloom until two months later  after the Soviets had launched a dog to space and the United States' first attempt to loft a satellite had failed spectacularly  said  former NASA Chief Historian Roger Launius . [Sputnik 1! 7 Fun Facts About Humanity's First Satellite]
"The way I tend to phrase it is  you get three strikes  and you're out "  Launius  told Space.com.
The launch of the beach-ball-size Sputnik 1 did not come as a shock to American national-security officials  who had expected something big was in the works. But it did catch  the public off-guard  Launius  said.
"The media at the time asked him a couple of questions about Sputnik  and then they moved on to other things "  Launius  said. "The big story of the day was the Little Rock crisis — are you going to bring in federal troops to desegregate the Little Rock [Arkansas] school system?"
But the mood shifted noticeably on Nov. 3  1957  when the USSR successfully launched Sputnik 2 to orbit   Launius  said.
"It certainly salved the open wound; there's no doubt about that "  Launius  said of Explorer 1  which famously discovered the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth.
But this success didn't erase all memories of the wound. Over time  the three-tiered Sputnik moment spurred the U.S. government to ramp up the nation's technological capabilities   Launius  said.
But Americans' concerns about the technological capabilities of their own nation relative to those of the USSR didn't fully bloom until two months later  after the Soviets had launched a dog to space and the United States' first attempt to loft a satellite had failed spectacularly  said  former NASA Chief Historian [TGT] . [Sputnik 1! 7 Fun Facts About Humanity's First Satellite]
"The way I tend to phrase it is  you get three strikes  and you're out "  Launius  told Space.com.
The launch of the beach-ball-size Sputnik 1 did not come as a shock to American national-security officials  who had expected something big was in the works. But it did catch  the public off-guard  Launius  said.
"The media at the time asked him a couple of questions about Sputnik  and then they moved on to other things "  Launius  said. "The big story of the day was the Little Rock crisis — are you going to bring in federal troops to desegregate the Little Rock [Arkansas] school system?"
But the mood shifted noticeably on Nov. 3  1957  when the USSR successfully launched Sputnik 2 to orbit   Launius  said.
"It certainly salved the open wound; there's no doubt about that "  Launius  said of Explorer 1  which famously discovered the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth.
But this success didn't erase all memories of the wound. Over time  the three-tiered Sputnik moment spurred the U.S. government to ramp up the nation's technological capabilities   Launius  said.