A FORGOTTEN FIRST: THE FIRST LIVING CREATURES TO LOOP THE MOON

摘要

The space race began with the Soviet Union launching the first artificial satellite, called Sputnik, on October 4,1957. While it was known in the West that the U.S.S.R. was working on rocket boosters, the timing came as a surprise. The United States had been working steadily on a far less ambitious project called Vanguard, managed by the Navy. Vanguard was slow going; however, since President Eisenhower had insisted that the rocket be a "clean-sheet" design, the satellite would not be launched on the military booster then under development, the Atlas. Eisenhower wanted the Vanguard project, despite the Navy's involvement, to be clearly branded as a peaceful effort, and the rocket was being developed from scratch. It did eventually launch after a number of failed attempts, but by then Sputnik had soared into the heavens and shocked the world.