Everyone remembers the 185-pound silver satellite that kickstarted the space race, but what about the rocket that got it there?

The launch the world's first satellite was the birth of the Space Age. Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 sent a shockwave through the American public.

How did America respond to the Soviet Union’s space dominance? The Mercury Rocket was supposed to put the U.S. ahead, but despite its early victories, it was quickly replaced. Why? Find out the ...

Sputnik proved that the Soviet Union had a rocket large enough to put a satellite in orbit. Sputnik weighed about 80 kilograms — compare to Explorer One, the U.S.’s first satellite, which ...

We've sent some pretty interesting payloads to space since the first satellite (Sputnik 1) launched on October 4, 1957. As ...

IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. This is a non-flying, staatic display ...

The Russians, according to General Blagonravov, used their most powerful rocket to launch the sputnik. Their launching vehicle must have taken off with at least 200,000 lbs. of thrust.