In October 1957, the Soviet Union surprised the world by announcing that it had launched a satellite vehicle, Sputnik, that was circling the earth at a speed of 18,000 mph. The satellite, a steel ball about 22 inches in diameter, contained four radio antennas. On November 3, the Soviets sent a second Sputnik into orbit, six times larger than the first, with a little dog on board, wired to send back information about the physiological effects of space travel. In America, the reaction was a mixture of anger, humiliation, and fear of its Cold War rival. Attention turned to the American school system and its weaknesses in providing an adequate scientific education for its children.

In 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to travel in outer space, orbiting Earth once in one hour and 29 minutes. In that same year newly elected President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, whose "New Frontier" presidential campaign had given the space program high priority, ordered a stepped-up American program, resulting in John Glenn's successful triple orbiting of the Earth in February 1962. At the time, Kennedy predicted that the United States would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. His prediction was validated on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the lunar surface, declaring, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

Notable developments since the moon landing include the employment of reusable orbital vehicles and the establishment of the first space station, Mir, by the Soviet Union in 1986, leading, in 1998, to the first phase of a projected international space station. On the negative side, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off in 1986; 17 years later, in 2003, the Columbia shuttle crashed during its reentry, leading some to question the wisdom of continuing manned space flights.

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