Reconsidering Sputnik : forty years since the Soviet satellite / edited by Roger D. Launius, John M. Logsdon and Robert W. Smith.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Logsdon, John.

Launius, Roger D.

Smith, Robert W. (Robert William), 1952-

Series:

Studies in the history of science, technology, and medicine ; v. 11.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Artificial satellites, Russian--History.

Artificial satellites, Russian.

History.

Outer space--Exploration--History.

Outer space.

Outer space--Exploration--Soviet Union.

Soviet Union.

Outer space--Exploration--United States.

United States.

Physical Description:

442 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Harwood Academic, 2000.

Summary:

How did a 184 pound, basketball-sized sphere that was launched into space at the height of the Cold War in 1957 change the face of politics, national security, international prestige, and scientific advancement? In this collection of essays, the editors delve into the launching of Sputnik 1 and how this shocking and symbolic achievement changed the world.

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.

Contents:

Introduction: Was Sputnik Really a Saltation? / Walter A. McDougall xv

Part 1 Space Flight in the Soviet Union / Roger D. Launius 3

1. Rising from a Cradle: Soviet Public Perceptions of Space Flight before Sputnik / Peter A. Gorin 11

2. Korolev, Sputnik, and the International Geophysical Year / Asif A. Siddiqi 43

3. Korolev's Triple Play: Sputniks 1, 2, and 3 / James J. Harford 73

4. Sputnik and the Creation of the Soviet Space Industry / William P. Barry 95

Part 2 A Setting for the International Geophysical Year / Robert W. Smith 117

5. The Sputniks and the IGY / Rip Bulkeley 125

6. Cover Stories and Hidden Agendas: Early American Space and National Security Policy / Dwayne A. Day 161

7. Before Sputnik: National Security and the Formation of U.S. Outer Space Policy / Kenneth A. Osgood 197

8. Orbiter, Overflight, and the First Satellite: New Light on the Vanguard Decision / Michael J. Neufeld 231

Part 3 Ramifications and Reactions / John M. Logsdon 259

9. The First Earth Satellite: A Retrospective View from the Future / Sergey Khrushchev 267

10. Building a Third Space Power: Western European Reactions to Sputnik at the Dawn of the Space Age / John Krige 289

11. Organizing the U.S. Government for Outer Space, 1957-1958 / Eilene Galloway 309

12. A Certain Future: Sputnik, American Higher Education, and the Survival of a Nation / John A. Douglass 327

13. Sputnik: A Political Symbol & Tool in 1960 Campaign Politics / Gretchen J. Van Dyke 363

Epilogue: Sputnik and Technological Surprise / Glenn P. Hastedt 401.

ISBN:

9057026236

OCLC:

42955324