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The panelists will discuss the October 4, 1957 launching of the Soviet satellite, Sputnik, its impact on the Cold War, and its role in...
Speakers: Matthew Brzezinski, Author, Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age; Former Moscow Correspondent, Wall Street Journal
Roger Launius, Member, Division of Space History, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution; Former Chief Historian, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Presider: Garrick Utley, President, Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute, SUNY
October 15, 2007
Matthew Brzezinski, an author and former Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent, and Roger D. Lanius, a space historian at the Smithsonian Institute, discuss the legacy of Sputnik fifty years after its launch. Though initial concerns among the American public centered around the orbiting Soviet satellite overhead, both speakers agree the rocket used to launch it was more significant, as it was effectively the first intercontinental ballistic missile. In the United States, Sputnik spurred a renewed focus on science and engineering, giving birth to a wave of innovation that eventually produced the Apollo moon landings and the creation of the Internet.
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