October 4th, 2007, will mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth. A new documentary, The Fever of ‘57, examines, through archival footage and interviews, the impact that Russia’s success in launching the first satellite had on American consciousness and science. The space race, NASA, increased funding for scientific research and education, and the brief phenomenon of boys’ rocket clubs were all results of the U.S. reaction to Sputnik.
The film hasn’t been picked up for distribution yet, but it’s been playing at festivals and the trailer is available online:
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While I knew what Sputnik was, I hadn’t realized how devastating it was to Americans’ sense of national pride and of security—the film compares it to Pearl Harbor and 9/11. I’d be interested to hear readers’ recollections of the launch and of the period that followed.
Even though there were no weapons, the Cold War really was a war in that the people of the U.S. and Russia lived in constant fear of attack. It is a very good thing for both sides as well as the rest of the world that the Cold War never sparked a real war.
As a kid, I loved the movie Top Gun. I never realized it was indirectly referencing the Cold War against Russia. They never really say the “enemy” is Russian, but they call the enemy aircrafts “Migs”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-25 which are Russian.
MiGs
Clare, I was only 6 when Sputnik was launched in 1957, and while I don’t exactly remember the launch of Sputnik, I can imagine the sense of unease that must have followed the launch. I can imagine it … because I do remember the sense we all had that “the Russians” would attack us at some point … the air raid drills in school, the city-wide sirens installed and tested periodically, the “this is only a test” announcements on TV and radio. It was disconcerting! I can imagine the reaction of the grownups at that time to this solid evidence that “the Russians” were ahead of us technologically - this “beep beep beeping” of a radio signal over all our heads - as Sputnik orbited Earth.
I am from Deborah’s generation and remember all too well the sirens and drills at school where we ducked beneath our desks with our arms over our heads or lined up in the hallways leaning against the walls with our heads covered. Looking back on it now it was such an absurd precaution. What good would our little arms and desks do to protect us from the “atom bomb” that terrified my generation?
It was exciting to me to go in the yard with my father to look for Sputnik or hear that beeping on the TV unaware of the hysteria it was creating. I did not connect Sputnik with the threat being felt by others. But I was very aware of the fear placed on us in the schoolroom.
I’m lucky enough to be of the generation that grew up with U.S. and the Commies cooperating in space. It’s too bad we’re using space as a military installment now in exactly the way people were afraid of in the film…
Thanks for sharing your recollections of that time. I think it’s interesting when science becomes a political weapon and exploration is less about discovery than about laying claim to what has been discovered. I suppose you could trace that trend through history from the very first explorers (claiming ‘new’ territories for their countries) all the way to today’s “arctic land-grabs”.
My father was a mathematician and amateur astronomer. I was born in the 1960s and have very fond memories of my fathe showing me the stars in his magnificent telescope (which we still have). He told me that for his generation, (born in the 1930s), Sputnik was the biggest achievement of Mankind, one of the few Americans who worshipped the Russians. He really believed they were very courageous to launch Sputnik at a time when technology was so green.