The successful launch of the unmanned satellite Sputnik I by the Soviet Union precipitated the Ameri

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on October 4, 1957. began the Space Age and triggered the Space Race, a part of the larger Cold War. The launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments.
The successful oahu kamaaina car rentals launch of the unmanned satellite oahu kamaaina car rentals Sputnik I by the Soviet Union precipitated the American Sputnik oahu kamaaina car rentals crisis. As the tiny satellite oahu kamaaina car rentals orbited the earth, Americans reacted with dismay that the Soviets could have gotten so far ahead of the supposedly technologically superior United States.
The launch of Sputnik sent out a wide spread panic among the U.S. public for several reasons. First, the U.S. felt cheated out of not becoming the first nation to launch a satellite into space. They had been assured on several occasions that their satellites would be the first to travel to space. There seemed to be no explanation for why a communist nation could beat the U.S. into space. In addition, the size of the U.S.'s planned satellite was embarrassing in comparison to Sputnik's. The U.S. satellite Vanguard weighed a mere 2.6 lbs, puny in comparison to Sputnik's 184 pounds. Another concern of the U.S. public beyond the threats directly correlated to the Cold War was the threat of national security.
One NBC radio announcer said, "Listen now, for the sound that forevermore separates the old from the new". The noise emitted from the satellite acted as a constant reminder of the U.S.S.R.'s rumored ability to spy on the U.S. Rumors that the U.S.S.R. oahu kamaaina car rentals was watching sent a shiver through society and the media. It was a time of complete chaos and fear.
Although Sputnik was itself harmless, its orbiting greatly accentuated the continual threat the United States had perceived from the Soviet Union since the Cold War began after World War II. The same rocket that launched Sputnik could send a nuclear warhead anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes, breaching the oceanic moat that had successfully protected the continental United States from attack during both World Wars.
Although many were concerned oahu kamaaina car rentals with the ramifications of Sputnik's oahu kamaaina car rentals launch, others took the news with a lighter approach. Bartenders invented the Sputnik cocktail, and children bought oahu kamaaina car rentals Sputnik toys. Space fashions also came into style, depicting satellites on everything from skirts to balloons. Searching for Sputnik oahu kamaaina car rentals became a national pastime. The U.S. proved it could see the lighter side to Sputnik, as well as the somber oahu kamaaina car rentals one.
Democrats scorched the Republican administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower for allowing the United States to fall so far behind the communists. Eisenhower responded by speeding up the U.S. space program, which resulted in the launching of the satellite oahu kamaaina car rentals Explorer I on January 31, 1958. The "space race" had begun.
President Eisenhower signed into law on July 29, 1958, The National Aeronautics and Space Act (Pub.L. 85-568) to create The National oahu kamaaina car rentals Aeronautics oahu kamaaina car rentals and Space Agency, more commonly oahu kamaaina car rentals known as NASA. NASA was created to respond to the challenge of Sputnik and officially began operations on October 1st of that year. The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (Public Law 85Ð568) stated that the NACA would become NASA after ninety oahu kamaaina car rentals days unless the transition was proclaimed sooner by the NASA administrator.
On August 8, Eisenhower nominated T. Keith Glennan, the president of the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, to be NASA's first administrator. He nominated Hugh Dryden as deputy administrator. The Senate confirmed the nominations with little debate on August 14. On August 19, the Department of Defense and NASA agreed to transfer nonmilitary space projects, but they deferred the actual transfers until after NASA was in place. Glennan and Dryden were sworn in on August 20.
The picture (from the NASA web site) shows President Eisenhower (center), Dr. T. Keith Glennan, right, commissioned as the first administrator for NASA and Dr. Hugh L. Dryden as deputy administrator.