Video Highlight: The Legacy of Sputnik

Monday, October 15, 2007

Matthew Brzezinski, an author and former Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent, and Roger D. Lanius, a space historian at the Smithsonian Institute, discuss the legacy of Sputnik fifty years after its launch. Though initial concerns among the American public centered around the orbiting Soviet satellite overhead, both speakers agree the rocket used to launch it was more significant, as it was effectively the first intercontinental ballistic missile. In the United States, Sputnik spurred a renewed focus on science and engineering, giving birth to a wave of innovation that eventually produced the Apollo moon landings and the creation of the Internet.

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