Society+and+space+-+p2

__**Josh**__ =__**Sputnik and Space Race Society.**__=

In 1957, a space satellite was sent into the earths orbit. It was sent by the Soviets. They called it **//SPUTNIK.//** This affected society in many important ways. It created reforms in school, started a new era of the space exploration, and worried many Americans which changed their lives on a day by day basis. Without Sputnik, we wouldn't have had a person on the moon, or had made NASA. Sputnik was very important, and changed the lives of billions of people for the better.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviets sent a new space craft, the first space satellite, into Earth's orbit. It traveled around Earth in 98 minutes. The launch of **//SPUTNIK//** scared Americans, because everyone thought that if the Soviets could send a satellite to space, then they could send off a bomb. Sputnik was just a little bigger than a basketball and weighed 184 pounds. Americans did not think that a space satellite would be important, so they didn't send anything to space until after Sputnik. Sputnik had a single communicating radio which made civilians very scared. Americans gave more money to their taxes to help America get into space faster. While this was going on, there was a top secret project called CORONA, which President Eisenhower wouldn't tell the American citizens about.

The launch of Sputnik provoked reforms in public schools. Schools had bomb drills in classrooms where kids and teachers would hide under desks. Teachers had to be educated in the field of space technology for any extra help. Buildings were being remodeled. This was a billion dollar plan. Civilians rebeled because they felt, not being the first nation in space, was a sign of weakness for America. The soviets were very proud and happy to be the first nation to be in space.

The Soviet Union sent up a passenger to space: a dog. Unfortunately, the ship it was sent on was not made for coming back to earth and the dog did not survive. While a lot of people were living in fear, some people looked at this in a good way. Bartenders invented the Sputnik Cocktail, children bought Sputnik toys, and people wore Sputnik shirts and hats. It also made Americans want to pay more taxes to make NASA ( National Aeronautics and Space administration) in July 1958. The NASA Administration was the new era of the space exploration.

We need to learn this becasue it is very important in many ways. It made our generation more technological, made impossible things happen, and opened a new era of life. If Colombus didn't go to America, someone else would have. Same as space. If the Sputnik satellite didn't go to space, someone else would have. If the Soviets didn't do it first, another country would have. The future would have turned out very differently, possibly for the worse.

In conclusion, I feel that Sputnik was a very important part of world history. Without it, everything would be very different. Things would be more unpredictable.

http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/ Sputnik to Space Race Shuttle The Complete Story of Space Flight-Iain Nicolson- copyright 1982
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