Skip Navigation  Sputnik Launch Turns 50, Russia Yawns Poor
little 183-pound Sputnik 1 has never received much attention
from the Russian press. (Photo courtesy of the NASA History web
page)  Sputnik Launch Turns 50, Russia Yawns  Andrew L. Jenks,
an assistant professor of history at California State
University, Long Beach, explains that the Sputnik moment was a
moment for Americans, not Russians (who also had Yuri Gagarin).
And the moment could repeat itself.  By Andrew L. Jenks
Gagarin, in short, put a human face on the space race in a way
that the beach-ball sized Sputnik never could.  Imagine the U.S.
response if Iran successfully tested a nuclear weapon. U.S.
citizens experienced a similar feeling of dread and panic 50
years ago, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's
first artificial satellite. American politicians, editors, and
journalists immediately pointed fingers and wondered why Ivan
was a rocket scientist while little Johnny from Podunk couldn't
do his ABCs. The humiliation lingers