The Year the Space Age Began
Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Launch of Sputnik
September 6 - December 14, 2007
About the exhibition
The year 2007 marks the 50th Anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), an event that was central to moving international space exploration forward. Three months into the IGY - on October 4, 1957 - the Soviet Union astounded the world by announcing that it had placed an artificial satellite into Earth orbit. This first "simple satellite," named Sputnik, changed everything, shattering the American public's perception of the country's scientific superiority, and pushing forward an agenda that accelerated the pace of United States' space program.
The first year of the space age contains remarkable tales of successes and failures, and laid the foundations for manned and un-manned missions in the future. Sputnik 1 carried batteries and a radio transmitter, allowing the first scientific experiments beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Two additional Sputniks made orbit with massive satellites. The United States responded with the Vanguard and Explorer satellite programs to make discoveries and innovations of their own. These events fueled the public's support of the race to primacy in space exploration and became a scientifically fruitful competition of the Cold War.
This exhibition examines seventeen satellites from both the Soviet Union and the United States, and related events that took place from October 1957 through September 1958, the first year of the Space Age. Focusing on headlines from the popular press and details from primary sources and other scientific literature, this exhibit follows how the pressures of public opinion developed into a single year of unprecedented advances in rocketry.
Images
(top) An early drawing of the Sputnik satellite (from 'Sputnik Into Space' by Mikhail Vasilevich Vasilev (1958)
(lower) Laika being prepared for launch (from 'Soviet Space Science' by Ari Shternfeld (1959)
This exhibition has been made possible through the generous support of Automated Business Systems, Bartlett and Company Grain Charitable Foundation, and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, LLP.
October 4 @ 6:30 p.m. - Sputnik Night
Linda Hall Library - On the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik - the world's first artificial satellite - come to the Linda Hall Library for viewing stars (and maybe satellites!), listening to ham radios and learning about the early days of the space age.
October 15 @ 6:00 p.m. - Periodic Roundtable Book Discussion Group
Linda Hall Library - Join Scott Curtis, Head of Reference, for a lively discussion of Sputnik: The Shock of the Century by Paul Dickson, Linda Hall Library.
October 28 @ 2 p.m. - Screening of 'October Sky'
Kansas City Public Library - Enjoy a Sunday matinee screening of the 1999 film 'October Sky', a story about how Sputnik inspired future rocket engineer Homer Hickam as a coal miner's son in West Virginia.