"Little Sput"

On October 4th, 1957, a polished silver sphere with four antennae rose into the night sky atop a Soviet rocket. Moments later, the world was listening to a sound that would echo through history: beep-beep, beep-beep. This was Sputnik, the first artificial satellite ever launched into orbit, and its success shocked the globe. To the Soviets, it was proof of scientific brilliance and a political coup. To the United States, it was a jolt of fear that revealed a potential missile gap and the unsettling reality that the Cold War had now extended into the heavens. Schools, scientists, and politicians scrambled to respond, and within a year, NASA was born. The launch of Sputnik was more than just a technological milestone. It was the starting gun for the Space Race, a moment when humanity left Earth behind and began a journey that would change the modern world forever.