John P. Hagen, a senior scientist from the Vanguard Project associated with the International Geophysical Year (IGY), was also attending the dinner. The Vanguard Project was an American effort to launch an artificial satellite. Dr. Hagen was apprehensive because the Vanguard Project was over budget and behind schedule, and throughout the week the Soviets had implied that they would be ready to launch the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite.
Sometime after dinner and before dessert, a congratulatory announcement was made regarding the launching of Sputnik. Surprisingly, the announcement was made by an American, not a Soviet. Lloyd Berkner, attending as the official American delegate to CSAGI, received confirmation that the Soviet satellite had been launched. Berkner quieted the room and congratulated his Soviet colleagues for the launch.
Sputnik was launched from the Kazakh Republic on October 4, 1957. Experts agree that Sputnik was more a symbol of the beginning of the space age than a threat to public safety. But as Americans looked at the event through the eyes of suspicion, tensions ran high and the threat of the unknown was far greater than the 183-pound satellite, which carried a radio that beeped every 96 minutes.
The three activities that follow were developed by National History Day and focus on the American reaction to Sputnik and how the Soviet Union capitalized on the public relations bonanza of being the first country to launch a satellite into space. With the use of a variety of primary sources, the students gain valuable insight into how the media and politicians responded to the news about Sputnik. In addition, the activities are designed to promote critical thinking about how and why the two superpowers reacted the way they did to this landmark event.
