Links & Books
Links
50th Anniversary of the Space Age
www.nasa.gov/externalflash/SpaceAge
This NASA multimedia site covers the launch of Sputnik and its effects on the development of the American space program. Browse archival photographs, see 3-D models of Sputnik and its American counterparts, and watch interviews with former astronauts.
The Early Satellites
www.nasa.gov/missions/science/f-satellites.html
On this Web site, read about the first manned satellite, the first weather satellite, and the first communications satellite—a 100-foot metal balloon!
Wernher von Braun
history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/index.html
German-born scientist Wernher von Braun was instrumental in the development of the early American space program. On this Web site, learn about his life, his discoveries, his work with Walt Disney, and more.
The Times Looks Back: Sputnik
www.nytimes.com/partners/aol/special/sputnik/main.html
The New York Times offers this collection of its headlines and cover stories from the week Sputnik launched in October 1957.
Sputnik Left Legacy for U.S. Science Education
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14829195
In this report from NPR's All Things Considered, learn how Sputnik's launch affected science instruction in American schools.
The True Story of Laika the Dog
www.space.com/news/laika_anniversary_991103.html
In this article, learn about the first living animal to enter space with the launch of Sputnik 2.
Books
Sputnik:
The Shock of the Century
by
Paul Dickson. Walker and Co., 2007.
Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War
by Michael Neufeld. Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.
Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited
the Space Age
by Matthew Brzezinski. Henry Holt and Co., 2003.
Epic
Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race
by Von Hardesty and Gene Eisman. National Geographic Books, 2007.
Our Changing Planet: The View From Space
Edited by Michael D. King, Claire L. Parkinson, Kim C. Partington, and Robin G. Williams. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
