View source for Sputnik crisis

{{short description|United States reaction to the 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite}}
[[File:Sputnik asm.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Replica of Sputnik 1]]
{{Eisenhower series}}

The ''' Sputnik crisis ''' was a period of public fear and anxiety in [[Western Bloc|Western nations]] about the perceived technological gap between the [[United States]] and [[Soviet Union]] caused by the Soviets' launch of ''[[Sputnik 1]]'', the world's first [[artificial satellite]].<ref name=":2" /> The crisis was a significant event in the [[Cold War]] that triggered the [[creation of NASA]] and the [[Space Race]] between the two superpowers. The satellite was launched on October 4, 1957, from the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]].  This created a crisis reaction in national newspapers such as ''[[The New York Times]]'', which mentioned the satellite in 279 articles between October 6, 1957, and October 31, 1957 (more than 11 articles per day).<ref>{{Cite journal|title = various articles, see link for the search| journal=New York Times|date=Oct 6–31, 1957|url = https://www.nytimes.com/search?dropmab=false&endDate=19571031&query=sputnik&sort=oldest}}</ref>

==Background==
In the early 1950s, [[Lockheed U-2]] [[Reconnaissance aircraft|spy plane]] flights over the Soviet Union provided intelligence that the US held the advantage in nuclear capability.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title = America's Sputnik Moments|last = Kay|first = Sean|date = April–May 2013|journal = Survival|volume = 55|issue = 2|pages = 123–146|doi = 10.1080/00396338.2013.784470|s2cid = 154455156}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Bradley Lightbody|title=The Cold War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BHtF_PVzL2gC&pg=PA55|year=1999|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-19526-3|page=55}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = The Physics of Spin: Sputnik Politics and American Physicists in the 1950s|last = Kaiser|first = David|date = 2006|journal = Social Research| volume=73 | issue=4 | pages=1225–1252 | doi=10.1353/sor.2006.0030 | s2cid=141646561 }}</ref> 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, spurring 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.<ref name="atlanticLeak">{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/the-leak-prosecution-that-lost-the-space-race/495659/|last=Macdougall|first=Ian|work=The Atlantic|title=The Leak Prosecution That Lost the Space Race|date=August 15, 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref name="atlanticLeak"/>

==Launch==
{{main|Sputnik 1#Launch and mission}}
The Soviets used [[ICBM]] technology to launch Sputnik into space, which gave them two propaganda advantages over the US at once: the capability to send the satellite into orbit and proof of the distance capabilities of their missiles.<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref name=":1" /> Until then, its appearance remained a mystery to Americans. Another factor was its weight of {{convert|184|lb|kg}}, compared to US plans to launch a satellite of {{convert|21.5|lb|kg}}.<ref name=":1" /> The Soviet claim seemed outrageous to many American officials, who doubted its accuracy. US rockets then produced {{convert|150000|lbf|N}} of [[thrust]], and US officials presumed that the Soviet rocket that launched Sputnik into space must have produced {{convert|200000|lbf|N}} of thrust. In fact, the R-7 rocket that launched ''Sputnik 1'' into space produced almost {{convert|1000000|lbf|N}} of thrust.<ref name=":1" /> All of those factors contributed to the Americans' perception that they were greatly behind the Soviets in the development of space technologies.

{{Listen
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| description  = The signals of ''Sputnik 1'' continued for 22 days
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Hours after the launch, the [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]] Astronomy Department rigged an ''ad hoc'' [[interferometer]] to measure signals from the satellite.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/department/history.shtml |title=Some History of the Department of Astronomy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504130814/http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/department/history.shtml|archive-date=4 May 2007|website=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign}}</ref> [[Donald B. Gillies]] and Jim Snyder programmed the [[ILLIAC I]] computer to calculate the satellite orbit from this data. The programming and calculation was completed in less than two days. The rapid publication of the [[ephemeris]] (orbit) in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' within a month of the satellite launch helped to dispel some of the fears created by the Sputnik launch.<ref name="Nature">{{cite journal|first1=I. R. |last1=King |first2=G. C. |last2=McVittie |first3=G. W. |last3=Swenson |first4=S. P. |last4=Wyatt |title=Further observations of the first satellite |journal=Nature |issue=4593 |date=9 November 1957 |page=943|volume=180 | doi=10.1038/180943a0 |bibcode=1957Natur.180..943K|s2cid=4273102 |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, Sputnik was not part of an organized effort to dominate space according to a Soviet space scientist.<ref name="secrets of sputnik">{{cite web |last=Isachenkov |first=Vladimir |work=USA Today |agency=Associated Press|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-10-01-sputnik-secrets_N.htm |title=Secrets of Sputnik Launch Revealed |date=1 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213164223/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-10-01-sputnik-secrets_N.htm |archive-date=13 February 2014|access-date=13 February 2014}}</ref>

The successful launch of ''Sputnik 1'' and then the subsequent failure of the first two [[Project Vanguard]] launch attempts greatly accentuated the US perception of a threat from the Soviet Union that had persisted since the [[Cold War]] had begun after [[World War II]]. The same rocket that launched Sputnik could send a [[nuclear warhead]] anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes, which would strip the [[Continental United States]] of its oceanic defenses. The Soviets had demonstrated that capability on 21 August by a {{convert|6000|km|mile|sp=us|adj=on}} test flight of the [[R-7 Semyorka|R-7 booster]]. The event was announced by [[TASS (USSR)|TASS]] five days later and was widely reported in other media.<ref name="Harford">{{cite web |last= Harford|first=James|url=https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/harford.html |title=Korolev's Triple Play: Sputniks 1, 2, and 3, adapted from James J. Harford, Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon|date=1997}}</ref>

== Eisenhower's reaction ==
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."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title = Eisenhower's Sputnik Moment: The Race for Space and World Prestige|last = Mieczkowski|first = Yanek|publisher = Cornell University Press|year = 2013|isbn = 978-0-8014-5150-8|location = United States|pages = [https://archive.org/details/eisenhowerssputn00miec/page/11 11]|url = https://archive.org/details/eisenhowerssputn00miec/page/11}}</ref>

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".<ref name=":1" />

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|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.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|title = Sputnik and 'Skill Thinking' Revisited: Technological Determinism in American Responses to the Soviet Missile Threat|last = Peoples|first = Columba|date = 2008|journal = Cold War History|volume = 8|pages = 55–75|doi = 10.1080/14682740701791334|s2cid = 154436145}}</ref>

Eisenhower followed this statement by saying that the United States needed to meet these challenges with "resourcefulness and vigor".<ref name=":5" /> 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. He remarked, "we need scientists in the ten years ahead...scrutinize your school's curriculum and standards. Then decide for yourselves whether they meet the stern demands of the era we are entering."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dwight Eisenhower - Speech to the Nation on the Future of American Security|url=https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/dwighteisenhowernationalsecurityfuture.htm|access-date=2021-11-05|website=www.americanrhetoric.com}}</ref> His ability to project confidence about the situation was limited because his confidence was based on clandestine reconnaissance,<ref name=":5" /> so he failed to quell the fears that there was a shift in power between the Americans and Soviets.<ref name=":5" /> The launch of ''Sputnik 1'' also impacted Eisenhower's ratings in his polls, but he eventually recovered.<ref name=":1" />

== Media and political influences ==
[[Image:Sputnik-stamp-ussr.jpg|thumb|upright|Soviet stamp depicting Sputnik's orbit around Earth]]
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.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|title = Sputnik Reconsidered: Image and Reality in the Early Space Age|last = McQuaid|first = Kim|date = 2007|journal = Canadian Review of American Studies|volume = 37|issue = 3|pages = 371–401|doi = 10.3138/cras.37.3.371| s2cid=159948737 }}</ref> Further, Fred Hechinger, a noted American journalist and education editor, reported, "hardly a week passed without several television programs examining education".<ref>Herold, J. (1974). SPUTNIK IN AMERICAN EDUCATION: A HISTORY AND REAPPRAISAL. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l'éducation De McGill, 9(002)</ref> 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 October 9, 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.<ref name=":4" />

Politicians used the event to bolster their ratings in polls.<ref name=":1" /> Research and development was used as a propaganda tool, and Congress spent large sums of money on the perceived problem of US technological deficiency.<ref name=":3" /> After the launch of ''Sputnik 1'' national security advisers overestimated the Soviets' current and potential rocket strength, which alarmed portions of Congress and the executive branch. When these estimations were released, Eisenhower was forced into an accelerated missile race to appease those concerned with America's safety.<ref name=":4" /> Sputnik provoked Congress into taking action on improving the US standing in the fields of science.

[[Nikita Khrushchev]], the Soviet leader, reflected on the event by saying, "It always sounded good to say in public speeches that we could hit a fly at any distance with our missiles. Despite the wide radius of destruction caused by our nuclear warheads, pinpoint accuracy was still necessary – and it was difficult to achieve". At the time, Khrushchev stated that "our potential enemies cringe in fright".<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref name=":4" />

== Response ==
=== United States ===
{{quote|The week after Sputnik went up, we were digging ourselves out of this avalanche of money that suddenly descended.|John Jefferies, at [[High Altitude Observatory]] in 1957<ref name="jefferies19770729">{{Cite interview |last=Jefferies |first=John |interviewer=Spencer Weart |title=John Jefferies |type=Oral history |url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4693 |access-date=2023-01-26 |publisher=American Institute of Physics |date=1977-07-29}}</ref>}}

The launch spurred a series of US initiatives{{sfn|History Channel (2012a)}} 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 January 31, 1958.{{sfn|Schefter (1999)|pp = 25–26}} 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 (United States)|Department of Defense]] (DoD) to develop [[emerging technologies]] for the [[US military]]. On July 29, 1958, he signed the [[National Aeronautics and Space Act]], [[the creation of NASA]].{{sfn|History Channel (2012a)}}

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&nbsp;million, and colleges took $10&nbsp;million of that funding, but by 1960, the combined funding grew almost six-fold because of the NDEA.{{sfn|Layman & Tompkins (1994)|p=190}} After the initial public shock, the [[Space Race]] began, which led to the [[Vostok 1|first human launched into space]], [[Apollo program|Project Apollo]], and the [[Apollo 11|first humans to land on the Moon]] in 1969.{{sfn|DeNooyer (2007)}}

Campaigning in 1960 on closing the "[[missile gap]]",{{sfn|Dickson (2003)|pp = 5–6, 160–162}} Eisenhower's successor, [[John F. Kennedy]], promised to deploy 1,000 [[Minuteman missile]]s. That was many more [[ICBM]]s than the Soviets had at the time.{{sfn|Dickson (2003)|pp = 213–214}} 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 [[Vostok 1|first human into orbit]], [[Yuri Gagarin]], on April 12, 1961, led Kennedy to raise the stakes of the Space Race by setting the goal of [[Apollo program|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."<ref name=":3" /> Eisenhower disagreed with Kennedy's goal and referred to it as a "stunt".<ref name=":1" /> Kennedy had privately acknowledged that the space race was a waste of money, but he knew there were benefits from a frightened electorate.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|title = Sputnik 1957|last = DeGroot|first = Gerard|date = December 2007|journal = American History}}</ref> The Space Race was less about its intrinsic importance and more about prestige and calming the public.

The Sputnik crisis sparked the American drive to retake the lead in space exploration from the Soviets, and it fueled its drive to [[moon landing|land men on the Moon]].<ref name=":5" /> American officials had a variety of opinions at the time, some registering alarm and others dismissing the satellite. [[Gerald Ford]], a Republican US representative from Michigan, had stated, "We Middle Westerners are sometimes called isolationists. I don't agree with the label; but there can be no isolationists anywhere when a thermonuclear warhead can flash down from space at hypersonic speed to reach any spot on Earth minutes after its launching". Former US Rear Admiral Rawson Bennett, chief of naval operations, stated that Sputnik was a "hunk of iron almost anybody could launch",<ref name=":1" /> while former US Army general [[James M. Gavin]] described it as "the most significant military event of our time".<ref name=war&peace>{{cite book|first=James Maurice|last=Gavin|title=War And Peace In The Space Age|publisher=Harper |edition=1958 |url=https://archive.org/details/warpeaceinspacea00gav_7q4/page/18/mode/2up?view=theater |url-access=registration|access-date=April 3, 2015|via=Internet Archive |page=18 |format=hardcover|asin=B000OKLL8G}}</ref>

The Sputnik crisis also spurred substantial transformation in the US science policy, which provided much of the basis for modern academic scientific research.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|title = What Happened After Sputnik? Shaping University Research in the United States.|last = Geiger|first = Roger|date = 1997|journal = Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy}}</ref> Astronomer John Jefferies, at the [[High Altitude Observatory]] in 1957, recalled that it had received funding mostly from philanthropists. "The week after Sputnik went up, we were digging ourselves out of this avalanche of money that suddenly descended" from the federal government, he said.{{r|jefferies19770729}} By the mid-1960s, NASA was providing almost 10% of the federal funds for academic research.<ref name=":6" />

Further expansion was made in the funding and research of space weapons and missile defense in the form of [[anti-ballistic missile]] proposals.<ref name=":5" /> Education programs were initiated to foster a new generation of [[engineer]]s and support was dramatically increased for scientific research.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.educationspace360.com/index.php/the-effects-of-the-cold-war-on-us-education-39/|title=The Effects of the Cold War on us Education|last1=Totten|first1=Michael|date=26 September 2013|access-date=15 August 2014|website=Education Space 360|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131110195751/http://www.educationspace360.com/index.php/the-effects-of-the-cold-war-on-us-education-39/|archive-date=10 November 2013}}</ref> Congress increased the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF) appropriation for 1959 to $134&nbsp;million, almost $100&nbsp;million higher than the year before. By 1968, the NSF budget stood at nearly $500&nbsp;million.

According to Marie Thorsten, Americans experienced a "techno-other void" after the Sputnik crisis and still express longing for "another Sputnik" to boost education and innovation. In the 1980s, the rise of Japan (both its car industry and its [[Fifth generation computer|5th generation computing project]]) served to fan the fears of a "technology gap" with Japan. After the Sputnik crisis, leaders exploited an "awe doctrine" to organize learning "around a strong model of educational national security: with math and science serving for supremacy in science and engineering, foreign languages and cultures for potential espionage, and history and humanities for national self-definition".{{sfn|Thorsten (2012)|p=74}} US leaders were not able to exploit the image of Japan as effectively, despite its representations of super-smart students and a strong economy.{{sfn|Thorsten (2012)|p = 74}}

===United Kingdom===
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 [[British Empire#Decolonisation and decline (1945–1997)|decline in the British Empire's world influence]]. The crisis soon became part of the broader Cold War narrative.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barnett |first=Nicholas |date=May 2013 |title=Russia Wins Space Race: The British Press and the Sputnik Moment, 1957 |journal=Media History |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=182–195 |doi=10.1080/13688804.2013.791419|hdl=10026.1/9394 |s2cid=142319531 |url=https://salford-repository.worktribe.com/output/1368259/russia-wins-space-race-the-british-press-and-the-sputnik-moment-1957 }}</ref> 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".<ref name="time19571014">{{Cite web |date=1957-10-14 |title=THE NATION: Red Moon Over the U.S. |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,862748,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506101411/http://www.time.com:80/time/magazine/article/0,9171,862748,00.html |archive-date=2009-05-06 |access-date=2016-02-24 |publisher=TIME}}</ref> The crisis contributed to the [[US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement]] of 1958.<ref name="botti1987">{{cite book |last=Botti |first=Timothy J. |title=The Long Wait: the Forging of the Anglo-American Nuclear Alliance, 1945–58 |location=New York |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1987 |series=Contributions in Military Studies |isbn=978-0-313-25902-9 |pages=199–201,238|oclc=464084495 }}</ref>

===Canada===
Canada’s reaction to Sputnik was primarily cultural and scientific rather than military. The launch sparked widespread media coverage in Québec and across Canada, with newspapers framing it as a turning point in global technological competition. Canadian scientists, such as those at [[Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories]], tracked Sputnik’s orbit and expressed admiration for Soviet engineering. This event accelerated Canadian interest in space science and contributed indirectly to Canada’s later development of the [[Alouette 1]] satellite program in the early 1960s, marking Canada as the third nation to enter space.<ref>Fortier, Rénald. “Québec / Canada and the Simplest Satellite, the PS-1 Spacecraft, in Other Words Sputnik 1.” Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, 20 Oct. 2020, https://ingeniumcanada.org/channel/articles/quebec-canada-and-the-simplest-satellite-the-ps-1-spacecraft-in-other-words-1.</ref>

===China===
China viewed Sputnik as a validation of socialist technological superiority and used it as propaganda to strengthen ties with the Soviet Union during the Sino-Soviet alliance. The launch inspired Chinese leaders to accelerate their own missile and satellite programs, which were in their infancy at the time. [[Mao Zedong]] emphasized the need for China to “catch up” in science and technology, leading to early planning for what would become the Dong Fang Hong satellite program in the 1960s. Sputnik reinforced China’s commitment to self-reliance in defense and space technology, even as tensions with Moscow later emerged.<ref>“Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age.” NASA History Division, https://www.nasa.gov/history/sputnik/sputorig.html.</ref>

== Sputnik moment ==
The phrase "[[wikt:Sputnik_moment|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:

* 2002: Japan's [[Earth Simulator]] becomes the [[TOP500|world's fastest supercomputer]], the United States invests in supercomputers beyond those needed for nuclear [[stockpile stewardship]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Gregory Scott |last2=Levy |first2=Dawn |last3=Williams |first3=Leo |last4=Gedenk |first4=Eric |last5=McLean |first5=Sandra Allen |title=Annual Report 2011-2012 |url=https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/AR2012_Final.pdf |journal=Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility}}</ref>
* 2010: China's [[Tianhe-1|Tianhe-1A]] becomes the world's fastest supercomputer.<ref name="m776">{{cite journal |last=Betz |first=Eric |date=2018-09-01 |title=TECH EXPLOSION: How nuclear weapons are sparking a DIGITAL REVOLUTION: THE NUCLEAR OPTIONS: The Manhattan Project never ended. A new Cold War of 1s and 0s is reshaping science and society. |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA701976187&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=02747529&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Eb471a25b&aty=open-web-entry |journal=Discover |publisher=Kalmbach Publishing Company |volume=39 |issue=7 |pages=29–38 |issn=0274-7529 |access-date=2025-03-30}}</ref>
* 2016:  American subsidiary [[Google DeepMind]] demonstrates their AI in [[AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol]], China accelerates AI development.<ref name="v936">{{cite journal |last=Dempsey |first=P. |date=2019-10-01 |title=AI passes go - where next? |journal=Engineering & Technology |volume=14 |issue=9 |pages=52–56 |doi=10.1049/et.2019.0908 |issn=1750-9637}}</ref><ref name="j765">{{cite journal |last1=Roberts |first1=Huw |last2=Cowls |first2=Josh |last3=Morley |first3=Jessica |last4=Taddeo |first4=Mariarosaria |last5=Wang |first5=Vincent |last6=Floridi |first6=Luciano |date=2021 |title=The Chinese approach to artificial intelligence: an analysis of policy, ethics, and regulation |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00146-020-00992-2.pdf |journal=AI & Society |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=59–77 |doi=10.1007/s00146-020-00992-2 |issn=0951-5666 |access-date=2025-03-30 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* 2016: China performs the first [[CRISPR gene editing]] in humans.<ref name="b826">{{cite web |last=Ferris |first=Robert |date=2016-11-15 |title=Chinese first to test CRISPR gene editing in humans |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/15/chinese-first-to-test-crispr-gene-editing-in-humans.html |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=CNBC}}</ref>
* 2019: American division [[Google AI]] claims its [[Sycamore processor]] achieves [[quantum supremacy]], completing a task faster than a conventional computer.<ref name="s299">{{cite book |last1=Jaeger |first1=Lars |title=Where Is Science Leading Us?: And What Can We Do to Steer It? |last2=Dacorogna |first2=Michel |date=2023 |publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland |isbn=978-3-031-47137-7 |publication-place=Cham |page= |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-47138-4}}</ref> Subsequent conventional approaches beat the quantum solution time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pan |first1=Feng |last2=Chen |first2=Keyang |last3=Zhang |first3=Pan |year=2022 |title=Solving the Sampling Problem of the Sycamore Quantum Circuits |url=https://journals.aps.org/prl/accepted/f9079Kc7Yd613a0ec6447153516a99a03ca737793 |journal=Physical Review Letters |volume=129 |issue=9 |article-number=090502 |arxiv=2111.03011 |bibcode=2022PhRvL.129i0502P |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.090502 |pmid=36083655 |s2cid=251755796 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-08-02 |title=Ordinary computers can beat Google's quantum computer after all |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/ordinary-computers-can-beat-google-s-quantum-computer-after-all |language=en |doi=10.1126/science.ade2364|last=Cho |first=Adrian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Google's 'quantum supremacy' usurped by researchers using ordinary supercomputer |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/05/googles-quantum-supremacy-usurped-by-researchers-using-ordinary-supercomputer/ |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 2025: Chinese company [[DeepSeek]] demonstrates their R1 [[large language model]], requiring far less training expenditure and computing power.<ref name="x631">{{cite magazine |last=Cassidy |first=John |date=2025-02-03 |title=Is DeepSeek China's Sputnik Moment? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-financial-page/is-deepseek-chinas-sputnik-moment |access-date=2025-03-30 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref><ref name="n209">{{cite web |date=2025-02-02 |title=Is 'Sputnik Moment' an appropriate analogy for the launch of DeepSeek? |url=https://www.lcfi.ac.uk/news-events/blog/post/is-sputnik-moment-an-appropriate-analogy-for-the-launch-of-deepseek |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=LCFI - Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence}}</ref>
* 2025: [[Waymo]] and [[Baidu]] begin large-scale deployment of [[robotaxi]]s, respectively, in select cities in the United States and China, after receiving approvals for autonomous operations the year before.  The absence of robotaxis in European cities was described by ''[[The Economist]]'' as a "Sputnik moment" for the [[European Union]], marking the culmination of Europe's catastrophic mismanagement of [[technology policy]], its failure to develop its own [[Silicon Valley]], and its inability to cultivate gigantic tech firms who could have developed uniquely European robotaxis.<ref name="Charlemagne">{{cite news |last1=Charlemagne |title=Robotaxis will be the Sputnik Moment for a declining Europe |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/09/04/robotaxis-will-be-the-sputnik-moment-for-a-declining-europe |work=[[The Economist]] |volume=456 |issue=9464 |date=6 September 2025 |page=43 |url-access=subscription}}  Charlemagne is the pseudonym of an anonymous columnist for ''The Economist''.  This column was published in hard copy under the title, "Europe's Sputnik Moment".</ref>

==See also==
* [[International Geophysical Year]]
* [[New Math]]
* [[Timeline of events in the Cold War]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}

===Books===
* {{cite book
 |last1         = Bruccoli
 |first1        = Matthew J.
 |last2         = Bondi
 |first2        = Victor
 |last3         = Baughman
 |first3        = Judith
 |title         = American Decades: 1950–1959
 |volume        = 6
 |editor1-last  = Layman
 |editor1-first = Richard
 |editor2-last  = Tompkins
 |editor2-first = Vincent
 |publisher     = Gale Research
 |location      = Detroit
 |year          = 1994
 |isbn          = 0-810-35727-5
 |ref           = {{sfnRef|Layman & Tompkins (1994)}}
 |url-access    = registration
 |url           = https://archive.org/details/americandecades00judi
}}
* {{cite book
  | last          = Burrows
  | first         = William E.
  | title         = This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age
  | publisher     = The Modern Library
  | location      = New York
  | year          = 1999
  | isbn          = 978-0-375-75485-2
  | ref           = {{sfnRef|Burrows (1999)}}
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last          = Brzezinski
  | first         = Matthew
  | title         = Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age
  | publisher     = Times Books
  | location      = New York
  | year          = 2007
  | isbn          = 978-0-8050-8147-3
  | ref           = {{sfnRef|Brzezinski (2007)}}
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last          = Cadbury
  | first         = Deborah
  | title         = Space Race: The Epic Battle Between America and The Soviet Union for Dominion of Space
  | url           = https://archive.org/details/spaceraceepicbat00cadb
  | url-access    = registration
  | year          = 2006
  | publisher     = Harper Collins Publishers
  | location      = New York
  | isbn          = 978-0-06-084553-7
  | ref           = {{sfnRef|Cadury (2006)}}
  }}
* {{cite book
 |last       = Chaikin
 |first      = Andrew
 |author-link = Andrew Chaikin
 |title      = A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts
 |publisher  = Viking
 |location   = New York
 |year       = 1994
 |isbn       = 0-670-81446-6
 |ref        = {{sfnRef|Chaikin (1994)}}
 |url        = https://archive.org/details/manonmoonvoyages00chai
}}
* {{cite book
  | last          = Crompton
  | first         = Samuel
  | title         = Sputnik/Explorer 1: The Race to Conquer Space
  | publisher     = Chelsea House
  | location      = New York
  | year          = 2007
  | isbn          = 978-0-7910-9357-3
  | ref           = {{sfnRef|Crompton (2007)}}
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last          = Dickson
  | first         = Paul
  | title         = Sputnik: The Shock of the Century
  | publisher     = The Berkley Publishing Group
  | location      = New York
  | year          = 2003
  | isbn          = 0-425-18843-4
  | ref           = {{sfnRef|Dickson (2003)}}
  }}
* {{cite book
 |last1       = Hardesty
 |first1      = Von
 |last2      = Eisman
 |first2     = Gene
 |others     = Foreword by Sergei Krushchev
 |title      = Epic Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race
 |publisher  = National Geographic
 |location   = Washington, D.C.
 |year       = 2007
 |isbn       = 978-1-4262-0119-6
 |ref        = {{sfnRef|Hardesty & Eisman (2007)}}
 |url-access = registration
 |url        = https://archive.org/details/epicrivalryinsid0000hard
}}
* {{cite book
 |last      = Neufeld
 |first     = Michael J.
 |title     = Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War
 |year      = 2007
 |publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
 |location  = New York
 |isbn      = 978-0-307-26292-9
 |ref       = {{sfnRef|Neufeld (2007)}}
 |url       = https://archive.org/details/vonbraundreamero00neuf
}}
* {{cite book
  | last1         = Ordway III
  | first1        = Frederick I.
  | last2         = Sharpe
  | first2        = Mitchell
  | title         = The Rocket Team
  | publisher     = Apogee Books
  | location      = Burlington, Ontario
  | year          = 2007
  | isbn          = 978-1-894959-82-7
  | ref           = {{sfnRef|Ordway & Sharpe (2007)}}
  }}
* {{cite book
 |last      = Roman
 |first     = Peter
 |title     = Eisenhower and the Missile Gap
 |publisher = Cornell University Press
 |location  = Ithaca, N.Y
 |year      = 1995
 |isbn      = 0-8014-2797-5
 |ref       = {{sfnRef|Roman (1995)}}
 |url       = https://archive.org/details/eisenhowermissil00roma
}}
* {{cite book
 |last      = Schefter
 |first     = James
 |title     = The Race: The Uncensored Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon
 |year      = 1999
 |publisher = Doubleday
 |location  = New York
 |isbn      = 0-385-49253-7
 |ref       = {{sfnRef|Schefter (1999)}}
 |url       = https://archive.org/details/raceuncensored00sche
}}
* {{cite book
  | last          = Siddiqi
  | first         = Asif A.
  | author-link    = Asif Azam Siddiqi
  | title         = Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge
  | publisher     = University of Florida Press
  | location      = Gainesville
  | year          = 2003
  | isbn          = 0-8130-2627-X
  | ref           = {{sfnRef|Siddiqi (2003)}}
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last          = Spitzmiller
  | first         = Ted
  | title         = Astronautics: A Historical Perspective of Mankind's Efforts to Conquer the Cosmos
  | volume        = Book 1 — Dawn of the Space Age
  | publisher     = Apogee Books
  | location      = Burlington, Ontario
  | year          = 2006
  | isbn          = 978-1-894959-63-6
  | ref           = {{sfnRef|Spitzmiller (2006)}}
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last          = Thorsten
  | first         = Marie
  | title         = Superhuman Japan: Knowledge, Nation and Culture in US-Japan Relations
  | publisher     = Routledge
  | location      = Oxon, UK
  | year          = 2012
  | isbn          = 978-0-415-41426-5
  | ref           = {{sfnRef|Thorsten (2012)}}
  }}

===Other online resources===
* {{cite web
 |last        = DeNooyer
 |first       = Rushmore
 |title       = Sputnik Declassified
 |work        = NOVA
 |publisher   = PBS
 |date        = 2007-11-06
 |type        = Transcript
 |url         = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/sputnik-declassified.html
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20121009083117/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/sputnik-declassified.html
 |archive-date = 2012-10-09
 |url-status  = live
 |ref         = {{sfnRef|DeNooyer (2007)}}
}}
* {{cite web
 |title       = July 29: NASA Created
 |url         = http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nasa-created
 |work        = This Day in History
 |publisher   = History Channel
 |location    = New York
 |year        = 2012
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20121008191801/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nasa-created
 |archive-date = 2012-10-08
 |url-status  = live
 |ref         = {{sfnRef|History Channel (2012a)}}
}}
* {{cite web
 |title       = October 4: Sputnik launched
 |url         = http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sputnik-launched
 |work        = This Day in History
 |publisher   = History Channel
 |location    = New York
 |year        = 2012
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20121009182303/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sputnik-launched
 |archive-date = 2012-10-09
 |url-status  = live
 |ref         = {{sfnRef|History Channel (2012b)}}
}}
* {{cite web
 |last        = Launius
 |first       = Roger D.
 |title       = Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age
 |work        = Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age
 |publisher   = NASA
 |location    = Washington, D.C.
 |year        = 2005
 |url         = https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/sputorig.html
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120917070623/http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/sputorig.html
 |archive-date = 2012-09-17
 |url-status  = live
 |ref         = {{sfnRef|NASA (2005)}}
}}

{{refend}}

==External links==

{{Cold War}}
{{Politics of outer space}}
{{Soviet Union–United States relations|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sputnik Crisis}}
[[Category:1957 in international relations]]
[[Category:1957 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1957 in spaceflight]]
[[Category:October 1957 in the United States]]
[[Category:October 1957 in Europe]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States relations]]
[[Category:Sputnik|Crisis]]
[[Category:Technological races]]
[[Category:Spaceflight histories]]