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Schedule including this lecture.
Goddard Space Flight Center Engineering Colloquium
Date: Monday, April 8, 2002
In the book Sputnik, the Shock of the Century, author Paul Dickson traces the story of Sputnik and its effect on American society from the time of its launch down to the present. At the time, much of America was dismayed by Sputnik, seeing it as proof that America had fallen behind. To von Braun's rocket team at the Redstone Arsenal, Sputnik demonstrated the failure of American bureaucracy to get out of the way and allow them to be the first into orbit. But to Eisenhower and part of his top circle, the launch of Sputnik was a boon. Because they had launched the first satellite, the Soviets could not complain when American satellites, such as the spy satellites Eisenhower was already planning, flew over their territory. Thus, by paving the way for Eisenhower's spy satellite program, Sputnik helped promote world peace.
Sputnik's legacy also helped lead towards peace in the next administration, that of John Kennedy. Because the US was still upset at having been second in space, the race to the Moon caught on, consuming much of the energy that might have gone into military conflicts.
Sputnik's legacy is still with us in many ways.
Author Paul Dickson remembers where he was when he heard that Sputnik had been launched. He was attending Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He remembers that "A friend stopped me in the middle of the campus to say that he had heard about it on the radio. Instinctively, we both looked up." Although he didn't see it then, Dickson had both seen it and heard its beeping signal within a few days.
He went on to a career in journalism and has written over forty books. Though he has maintained an interest in the Cold War and in space, he has written about such diverse topics as baseball and puns. His works of investigative journalism include Think Tanks and The Electronic Battlefield. Now, almost fifty years after he saw it, Paul Dickson has written the story of Sputnik. He was aided in this job by a space and satellite bibliography compiled by his late mother, to whom the book is dedicated.
Paul Dickson lives with his wife in Garrett Park, Maryland.
Colloquium Committee Sponsor: Brent Warner
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