Assignment 7 - Christian Lauritzen

     On October 4, 1957, Sputnik 1 was launched by Russian engineer Valentin Glushko.  It was the first man made satellite to enter the orbit of Earth, orbiting nearly 600 miles above the surface of the earth every hour and a half until it fell back into the atmosphere in 1958.  This event launched the Russian-American space race, with the goal being to explore the final frontier.  For the next 15 years, funding for the space programs of both nations would increase massively and untold amounts of scientific accomplishment and discovery would take place.  The race came to an ultimatum with the race to land humans on the moon, a race that the US finally won after losing to Russia on almost every front.
     I think this event was one of the greatest things to happen to science.  The public opinion and drive to do better than the opponent allowed us as a race to put humans into space and make great discovery.  While some may see it as a waste of money and time, I believe the race pushed us forward as humanity, advancing us and making us better.  Unfortunately the race ended when the US succeeded in landing a man on the moon, but the bounds and leaps we made while doing so became invaluable to the scientific community, and cemented our position among the stars.