vital_sol

By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer, SPACE.com

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9/11 and Sputnik

There's reason to remember Sputnik, suggests author Paul Dickson.

Much like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, these surprising events evoked a provocative response from the United States. "It is when the unpredictable happens…America gets stronger as it gets smarter," he said.

Dickson has detailed the ripple effects stemming from the Soviet satellite launching in his critically acclaimed book: Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, published last year by Walker & Company.

When Sputnik 1 went up, it was a night in America when "Leave It to Beaver" premiered on television, Dickson said. "We were building big tail fins on automobiles. Everyone was dreaming of a color TV, wanting a Princess phone and a second car," he said.

Another Sputnik surprise in the making

Sputnik 1 was soon to be followed by Sputnik II, a far-heavier satellite that carried a passenger - the dog Laika. America's own stab at hurling a satellite into space in December 1957 -- a grapefruit-sized Vanguard 1 -- flew all of 17-inches before falling back onto its launch pad and exploding.

From the body politic in America, there were worries voiced of atomic bombs dropped from space "like kids dropping rocks from a highway overpass," Dickson said. "America went into the Christmas of 1957 in an absolute panic," he said.

That was a far cry from an earlier characterization of the Soviet Union's technical skills.

"People were saying we didn't have to worry about a suitcase atomic bomb from the Russians…because they didn't have the technology to build the suitcase," Dickson said. "The fact of the matter is that we read them wrong."

Dickson said the future likely holds another Sputnik 1 like surprise.

"The most direct next Sputnik will be when China puts two people into orbit sometime next year. They'll be jumping right to the U.S. Gemini program that flew in the 1960s,'" Dickson said.