Sputnik crisis
In the early 1950s, Lockheed U-2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union provided intelligence that the US held the advantage in nuclear capability. However, an education gap was identified when studies conducted between 1955 and 1961 reported that the Soviet Union was training two to three times as many scientists per year as the US. The launch and orbit of Sputnik 1 suggested that the Soviet Union had made a substantial leap in technology, which was interpreted as a serious threat to US national security. This interpretation spurred the US to boost federal investment in research and development, education, and national security. The Juno I rocket that carried the first US satellite Explorer 1 was ready to launch in 1956, but that fact was classified and unknown to the public. The Army's PGM-19 Jupiter from which Juno was derived had been shelved on the orders of Defense Secretary Charles Erwin Wilson amid interservice rivalry with the US Air Force's PGM-17 Thor rocket.
The Soviets used ICBM technology to launch Sputnik into space, which gave them two propaganda advantages over the US at once. They demonstrated the capability to send the satellite into orbit and proof of the distance capabilities of their missiles. That proved that the Soviets had rockets capable of sending nuclear weapons to Western Europe and even North America. That was the most immediate threat that Sputnik 1 posed. The United States, a land with a history of geographical security from European wars because of its distance, suddenly seemed vulnerable. A contributing factor to the Sputnik crisis was that the Soviets had not released a photograph of the satellite for five days after the launch. Until then, its appearance remained a mystery to Americans. Another factor was its weight of 83.6 kilograms compared to US plans to launch a satellite of 14 kilograms. The Soviet claim seemed outrageous to many American officials, who doubted its accuracy. US rockets then produced 200 kilonewtons of thrust, and US officials presumed that the Soviet rocket that launched Sputnik into space must have produced 1500 kilonewtons of thrust. In fact, the R-7 rocket that launched Sputnik 1 into space produced almost 1500 kilonewtons of thrust.
The media stirred a moral panic by writing sensational pieces on the event. In the first and second days following the event, The New York Times wrote that the launch of Sputnik 1 was a major global propaganda and prestige triumph for Russian communism. Further, Fred Hechinger, a noted American journalist and education editor, reported, hardly a week passed without several television programs examining education. It was after the people of the United States were exposed to a multitude of news reports that it became a nation in shock. The media not only reported public concern but also created the hysteria. Journalists greatly exaggerated the danger of the Soviet satellite for their own benefit. On the 9th of October 1957, science fiction writer and scientist Arthur C. Clarke said that the day that Sputnik orbited around the Earth, the US became a second-rate power. In Britain, the launch of the first Sputnik provoked surprise, combined with elation at experiencing the dawn of the Space Age. It was also a reminder of the decline in the British Empire's world influence. The Daily Express predicted that The result will be a new U.S. drive to catch up and pass the Russians in the sphere of space exploration. Never doubt for a moment that America will be successful.
Five days after the launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite, US President Dwight Eisenhower addressed the American people. After being asked by a reporter on security concerns about the Soviet satellite, Eisenhower said, Now so far as the satellite itself is concerned, that does not raise my apprehensions, not one iota. Eisenhower made the argument that Sputnik was only a scientific achievement and not a military threat or change in world power. He believed that Sputnik's weight was not commensurate with anything of great military significance, and that was also a factor in putting it in proper perspective. In 1958, Eisenhower declared three stark facts the United States needed to confront. The Soviets had surpassed America and the rest of the free world in scientific and technological advancements in outer space. If the Soviets maintained that superiority, they might use it as a means to undermine America's prestige and leadership. If the Soviets became the first to achieve significantly superior military capability in outer space and created an imbalance of power, they could pose a direct military threat to the US. Eisenhower followed this statement by saying that the United States needed to meet these challenges with resourcefulness and vigor. The president also noted the importance of education for the Russians in their recent scientific and technological progress, and called for America to respond with education reform.
His ability to project confidence about the situation was limited because his confidence was based on clandestine reconnaissance, so he failed to quell the fears that there was a shift in power between the Americans and Soviets. The launch of Sputnik 1 also impacted Eisenhower's ratings in his polls, but he eventually recovered. The launch spurred a series of US initiatives ranging from defense to education. Increased emphasis was placed on the US Navy's Project Vanguard to launch an American satellite into orbit. There was a renewed interest in the existing Explorer program, which launched the first American satellite into orbit on the 31st of January 1958. In February 1958, Eisenhower authorized formation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which was later renamed to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), within the Department of Defense (DoD) to develop emerging technologies for the US military. On the 29th of July 1958, he signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, the creation of NASA. Less than a year after the Sputnik launch, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). It was a four-year program that poured billions of dollars into the US education system.
In 1953, the government spent $153 million, and colleges took $10 million of that funding, but by 1960, the combined funding grew almost six-fold because of the NDEA. After the initial public shock, the Space Race began, which led to the first human launched into space, Project Apollo, and the first humans to land on the Moon in 1969. Politicians used the event to bolster their ratings in polls. Research and development was used as a propaganda tool, and Congress spent large sums of money on the perceived problem of US technological deficiency. When these estimations were released, Eisenhower was forced into an accelerated missile race to appease those concerned with America's safety. Sputnik provoked Congress into taking action on improving the US standing in the fields of science. Campaigning in 1960 on closing the missile gap, Eisenhower's successor, John F. Kennedy, promised to deploy 1,000 Minuteman missiles. That was many more ICBMs than the Soviets had at the time. Though Kennedy did not favor a massive US crewed space program when he was in the US Senate during Eisenhower's term, public reaction to the Soviet's launch of the first human into orbit, Yuri Gagarin, on the 12th of April 1961, led Kennedy to raise the stakes of the Space Race by setting the goal of landing men on the Moon.
Kennedy claimed, If the Soviets control space they can control the earth, as in past centuries the nation that controlled the seas dominated the continents. Eisenhower disagreed with Kennedy's goal and referred to it as a stunt. Kennedy had privately acknowledged that the space race was a waste of money, but he knew there were benefits from a frightened electorate. The political analyst Samuel Lubell conducted research on public opinion about Sputnik and found no evidence at all of any panic or hysteria in the public's reaction, which confirmed that it was an elite, not a popular, panic. The phrase Sputnik moment entered the English language to describe similar national situations. The first component is a technoscientific leap by another country. The second component is a national education and research push to catch up on the original leap. Technical or scientific leaps that have been referred to as a Sputnik moment include Japan's Earth Simulator becoming the world's fastest supercomputer in 2002. China's Tianhe-1A became the world's fastest supercomputer in 2010. American subsidiary Google DeepMind demonstrated their AI in AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol in 2016, prompting China to accelerate AI development.
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Common questions
What was the weight of Sputnik 1 compared to US plans?
Sputnik 1 weighed 83.6 kilograms, which contrasted sharply with US plans to launch a satellite weighing only 14 kilograms.
When did President Dwight Eisenhower address the American people about Sputnik 1?
President Dwight Eisenhower addressed the American people five days after the launch of Sputnik 1 on the 5th of October 1957.
Which act created NASA in response to the Sputnik crisis?
The National Aeronautics and Space Act signed by President Dwight Eisenhower on the 29th of July 1958 created NASA.
Who said that the United States became a second-rate power when Sputnik orbited Earth?
Science fiction writer and scientist Arthur C. Clarke stated that the day Sputnik orbited around the Earth marked when the US became a second-rate power.
How much funding did colleges receive from government spending in 1953 versus 1960?
In 1953 colleges received $10 million out of $153 million total government spending, but combined funding grew almost six-fold by 1960 due to the NDEA.