Sputnik was a Russian satellite launched into space on October 4, 1957. Occuring during the Cold War and the paranoia between the two countries over armaments and nuclear weapons, the decade also marked by McCarthyism in the early 50's and the infamous Red Scare. America was tiptoeing towards the 1960's in terms of technology, but the launch of Sputnik knocked us flat on our backs.
Prior to NASA, an organization called NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) existed. NACA itself had been started as a response to the British Advisory Committee for Aeronautics after our aviation capabilities were flagging to the Europeans. Shortly after Sputnik's launch, NACA was dissolved and formed into modern day NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
NASA formed the Mercury program, designed to answer the Russian space ambitions. The primary goal was to put a man into space before them. NASA began testing Atlas and Redstone rockets with the American military. In the early program, the practice launches of the rockets failed again and again. Many of them exploded during the test, failed to leave the launch pad, etc. (Read about the famous "
four inch flight " if you have the time.) At this time, the magazine
Missiles and Rockets wrote, "NASA's Mercury manned satellite program appears to be plummeting the United States toward a new humiliating disaster in the East-West space race. ...It no longer offers any realistic hope of beating Russia in launching the first man into orbit, much less to serve as an early stepping-stone for reaching the Moon."
Americans like being first. Everyone does, don't they? The men of the original Space Task Group and their growing operation for Mercury worked harder than ever, but Russia prevailed and put the first man in space. Alan Shepard was the first American, going up for a 15 minute ride in 1961. The Russians then beat us at numerous space records over the next few years. We were defeated, but didn't give up.
America soon had the record for longest man in space, and the Mercury program was a success. Our country was enamored with the race, and the original Mercury Seven became heroes (hence why most people know the names offhand). President Kennedy saw not only the political benefits of the program, but also the educational. He encouraged the program and made the lofty goal of putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade. We all know who ended up winning.
The technology and scientific information gained from the original Mercury program and subsequent Gemini and Apollo programs affects everyone in modern times. The first mission control centers had to teletype messages to each other. From there, radio and telemetry advanced. The things we take granted every day of our lives are made possible by these advancements.
Average modern students can still name some of the original astronauts of the 1960's - John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Alan Shepard, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong, for example - but many would be hard pressed to tell you who was president before Kennedy. The technology heroes of that era, popularized by NASA, were the prevailing stars of that decade. In today's day and age, we can name very few.
Today's Sputnik, I'll argue, is not here yet. The conditions are ripe. With America falling further and further behind in science and technology, and the next big technological breakthrough imminent, our next trip and fall awaits. Textbooks today are indeed a joke: read Richard Feynman's
Surely You Are Joking, Mr. Feynman! and you'll see his recount of horror at modern textbooks and the committees that choose them. America's education system is in disgusting disarray.
Programs such as the No Child Left Behind Act do not help our chances of avoiding a fall of Sputnik-sized proportions. The act is not designed with students or teachers in mind; it puts further pressures on teachers already dogged with inadequate materials and books in many classrooms, especially urban areas. Programs like after school tutoring, Boys and Girls Club, the Girl and Boy Scouts, YMCA's and YWCA's, and yes, even FIRST, provide the necessary education that the government is not providing in today's schools.
The next Sputnik defeat is right around the corner. America is once again not prepared. I certainly hope a group of people can step up in the face of defeat and make America as proud as NASA did.
AM
In this post, I refered to the following events and used the following resources to back up my information: this, this, this, and most importantly, this and this and this documentary.