Sputnik Orbits Earth

On today’s episode, we discuss the successful launch and orbit of Sputnik, the USSR’s unmanned satellite experiment, in October of 1957. The feat achieved a first in human-powered space flight and sparked the technological and ideological competition between the U.S. and the Soviets known as the “Space Race.” The fact that the Soviets beat the Americans into orbit had huge consequences on the psyche of the U.S. for decades to come, and the competitive nature of space exploration continues to this day. Is outer space the next commercial travel frontier?