Reconsidering Sputnik

Reconsidering Sputnik PDF Author: Roger D. Lanius
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134960263
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
This book explores Russia's stunning success of ushering in the space age by launching Sputnik and beating the United States into space. It also examines the formation of NASA, the race for human exploration of the moon, the reality of global satellite communications, and a new generation of scientific spacecraft that began exploring the universe. An introductory essay by Pulitzer Prize winner Walter A. McDougall sets the context for Sputnik and its significance at the end of the twentieth century.

Reconsidering Sputnik

Reconsidering Sputnik PDF Author: Roger D. Lanius
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134960263
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
This book explores Russia's stunning success of ushering in the space age by launching Sputnik and beating the United States into space. It also examines the formation of NASA, the race for human exploration of the moon, the reality of global satellite communications, and a new generation of scientific spacecraft that began exploring the universe. An introductory essay by Pulitzer Prize winner Walter A. McDougall sets the context for Sputnik and its significance at the end of the twentieth century.

U.S. Civilian Space Policy Priorities: Reflections 50 Years After Sputnik

U.S. Civilian Space Policy Priorities: Reflections 50 Years After Sputnik PDF Author: Deborah D. Stine
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437919618
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Book Description
The ¿space age¿ began on Oct. 4, 1957, when the USSR launched Sputnik, the world¿s first artificial satellite. A set of fundamental factors gave importance and urgency to the advancement of space tech. These 4 factors include: the need to explore and discover; nat. defense; prestige and confidence in our S&T systems; and scientific observation and experimentation. Contents of this report: Sputnik and America¿s ¿Sputnik Moment¿; Why Was Sputnik so Influential?; Why is Sputnik Important to Today¿s Policies?; What are the Activities of Other Nations and the Commercial Sector in Space Exploration (SE)?; What is the Nation¿s Current Civilian Space Policy?; Why Invest in SE?; What is the Public¿s Attitude Toward SE? Charts and tables.

Eisenhower's Sputnik Moment

Eisenhower's Sputnik Moment PDF Author: Yanek Mieczkowski
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801467934
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
In a critical Cold War moment, Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency suddenly changed when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first satellite. What Ike called "a small ball" became a source of Russian pride and propaganda, and it wounded him politically, as critics charged that he responded sluggishly to the challenge of space exploration. Yet Eisenhower refused to panic after Sputnik-and he did more than just stay calm. He helped to guide the United States into the Space Age, even though Americans have given greater credit to John F. Kennedy for that achievement. In Eisenhower's Sputnik Moment, Yanek Mieczkowski examines the early history of America's space program, reassessing Eisenhower's leadership. He details how Eisenhower approved breakthrough satellites, supported a new civilian space agency, signed a landmark science education law, and fostered improved relations with scientists. These feats made Eisenhower's post-Sputnik years not the flop that critics alleged but a time of remarkable progress, even as he endured the setbacks of recession, medical illness, and a humiliating first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite. Eisenhower's principled stands enabled him to resist intense pressure to boost federal spending, and he instead pursued his priorities-a balanced budget, prosperous economy, and sturdy national defense. Yet Sputnik also altered the world's power dynamics, sweeping Eisenhower in directions that were new, even alien, to him, and he misjudged the importance of space in the Cold War's "prestige race." By contrast, Kennedy capitalized on the issue in the 1960 election, and after taking office he urged a manned mission to the moon, leaving Eisenhower to grumble over the young president's aggressive approach. Offering a fast-paced account of this Cold War episode, Mieczkowski demonstrates that Eisenhower built an impressive record in space and on earth, all the while offering warnings about America's stature and strengths that still hold true today.

After Sputnik

After Sputnik PDF Author: Alan J. Levine
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351295101
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
On October 4, 1957 in the midst of the Cold War, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first artificial earth satellite. For the West, and especially the United States, it was a shattering blow to national morale and pride. It led to a deep-seated fear that the Soviet Union would surpass the United States in both technology and power and that even nuclear war might be near. After Sputnik shows that the late 1950s were not an era of complacency and smugness, but were some of the most anxious years in American history. The Cold War was by no means a time of peace. It was an era of a different kind of battle—one that took place in negotiations and in the internal affairs of many countries, but not always on the battlefield. While many choose to remember President Eisenhower as a near-pacifist, his actions in Lebanon, the Taiwan Straits crisis, Berlin, and elsewhere proved otherwise. Seconded by his able secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, he steered America though some of the most difficult parts of the Cold War, not always succeeding, but preventing disaster. The Middle East and Berlin crises, the Indonesian Civil War, Fidel Castro’s rise to power, and other events are all bluntly discussed in the light of Western, and other, illusions and delusions. In this engaging history, Alan J. Levine delves deeply into this often misrepresented period of history, and provides new insight into one of the most formative decades in American history.

Sputnik Sweetheart

Sputnik Sweetheart PDF Author: Haruki Murakami
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0375413464
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Part romance, part detective story, Sputnik Sweetheart tells the story of a tangled triangle of uniquely unrequited love. Now with a new introduction from the author. K is madly in love with his best friend, Sumire, but her devotion to a writerly life precludes her from any personal commitments. At least, that is, until she meets an older woman to whom she finds herself irresistibly drawn. When Sumire disappears from an island off the coast of Greece, K is solicited to join the search party—and finds himself drawn back into her world and beset by ominous visions. Subtle and haunting, Sputnik Sweetheart is a profound meditation on human longing.

Sputnik

Sputnik PDF Author: Paul Dickson
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496216407
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
On October 4, 1957, the day Leave It to Beaver premiered on American television, the Soviet Union launched the space age. Sputnik, all of 184 pounds with only a radio transmitter inside its highly polished shell, became the first artificial satellite in space; while it immediately shocked the world, its long-term impact was even greater, for it profoundly changed the shape of the twentieth century. Paul Dickson chronicles the dramatic events and developments leading up to and resulting from Sputnik's launch. Supported by groundbreaking, original research and many declassified documents, Sputnik offers a fascinating profile of the early American and Soviet space programs and a strikingly revised picture of the politics and personalities behind the facade of America's fledgling efforts to get into space. The U.S. public reaction to Sputnik was monumental. In a single weekend, Americans were wrenched out of a mood of national smugness and postwar material comfort. Initial shock at and fear of the Soviets' intentions galvanized the country and swiftly prompted innovative developments that define our world today. Sputnik directly or indirectly influenced nearly every aspect of American life: from an immediate shift toward science in the classroom to the arms race that defined the Cold War, the competition to reach the moon, and the birth of the internet. By shedding new light on a pivotal era, Dickson expands our knowledge of the world we now inhabit and reminds us that the story of Sputnik goes far beyond technology and the beginning of the space age, and that its implications are still being felt today.

In Sputnik's Shadow

In Sputnik's Shadow PDF Author: Zuoyue Wang
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813546885
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
In Sputnik's Shadow traces the rise and fall of the President's Science Advisory Committee from its ascendance under Eisenhower to its demise during the Nixon years. Zuoyue Wang examines key turning points during the twentieth century, including the beginning of the Cold War, the debates over nuclear weapons, the Sputnik crisis in 1957, the struggle over the Vietnam War, and the eventual end of the Cold War, showing how the involvement of scientists in executive policymaking evolved over time and brings new insights to the intellectual, social, and cultural histories of the era.

After Sputnik

After Sputnik PDF Author: Martin Collins
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062043617
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In the 50 years since Sputnik's historic orbit kickstarted a race to the stars, spaceflight has moved from a speculative and experimental science to a staple of contemporary life. Space exploration has changed the way we look at our universe, our planet, and even the people around us. AFTER SPUTNIK will explore the first 50 years of achievements in space with a guided tour of the artifacts in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum. This is the premier collection of space artifacts in the world, and includes most US artifacts; major Russian artifacts on loan; and most recently, Burt Rutan's Space Ship One. In addition, the museum's popular culture collection and an art collection include objects such as a 1930s Buck Rogers stopwatch, and Norman Rockwell's famous painting, Suiting Up. Using a selection of 180 to 200 objects, this book will tell the artifact stories to convey a sense of what it was like to be there when the object was in use, accompanied by dramatic photographs. The artifacts will range from the famous, such as John Glenn's Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft and the Mars Pathfinder lander and Sojourner rover, to the equally rare, but less well–known, such as the Surveyor 3 camera returned from the Moon and Gordon Cooper's space boots. No other book can offer this breadth and depth of artifacts.

After Sputnik

After Sputnik PDF Author: Martin Collins
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062043617
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
In the 50 years since Sputnik's historic orbit kickstarted a race to the stars, spaceflight has moved from a speculative and experimental science to a staple of contemporary life. Space exploration has changed the way we look at our universe, our planet, and even the people around us. AFTER SPUTNIK will explore the first 50 years of achievements in space with a guided tour of the artifacts in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum. This is the premier collection of space artifacts in the world, and includes most US artifacts; major Russian artifacts on loan; and most recently, Burt Rutan's Space Ship One. In addition, the museum's popular culture collection and an art collection include objects such as a 1930s Buck Rogers stopwatch, and Norman Rockwell's famous painting, Suiting Up. Using a selection of 180 to 200 objects, this book will tell the artifact stories to convey a sense of what it was like to be there when the object was in use, accompanied by dramatic photographs. The artifacts will range from the famous, such as John Glenn's Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft and the Mars Pathfinder lander and Sojourner rover, to the equally rare, but less well–known, such as the Surveyor 3 camera returned from the Moon and Gordon Cooper's space boots. No other book can offer this breadth and depth of artifacts.

Beyond Sputnik and the Space Race

Beyond Sputnik and the Space Race PDF Author: Hugh R. Slotten
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421441233
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A fascinating account of how the United States established the first global satellite communications system to project geopolitical leadership during the Cold War. On July 20, 1969, the world watched, spellbound, as NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped off the Apollo 11 lunar module to walk on the moon. NASA estimated that 20 percent of the planet's population—nearly 650 million people—watched the moon landing footage, which was made possible by the first global satellite communications system, the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, or Intelsat. In Beyond Sputnik and the Space Race, Hugh R. Slotten analyzes the efforts of US officials, especially during the Kennedy administration, to establish this satellite communication system and open it to all countries of the world. Locked in competition with the Soviet Union for both military superiority and international prestige, President John F. Kennedy overturned the Eisenhower administration's policy of treating satellite communications as simply an extension of traditionally regulated telecommunications. Instead of allowing private communications companies to set up separate systems that would likely primarily serve major "developed" regions, the new administration decided to take the lead in establishing a single world system. Explaining how the East-West Cold War conflict became increasingly influenced by North-South tensions during this period, Slotten highlights the growing importance of non-aligned countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. He also underscores the importance of a political economy of "total Cold War" in which many crucial aspects of US society became tied to imperatives of national security and geopolitical prestige. Drawing on detailed archival records to examine the full range of decisionmakers involved in the Intelsat system, Beyond Sputnik and the Space Race spotlights mid- and lower-level agency staff usually ignored by historians. One of the few works to analyze the establishment of a major global infrastructure project, this book provides an outstanding analytical overview of the history of global electronic communications from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.