Sputnik and the Space Race

October 4 marks the anniversary of the Soviet Union's launch in 1957, of Sputnik 1, the starting signal for the Space Race and a propaganda coup for the Kremlin.

Another view of the Sputnik. Its launch sparked the so-called 'space-race' and pushed the frontiers of the Cold War outside the Earth's atmosphere

Laika, the dog sent up with Sputnik 2, was the first living creature ever sent in space. Sputnik 2 was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, 03 November 1957. Laika died a few hours after launch from stress and overheating, likely due to a malfunction in the thermal control system.

Picture from the Soviet daily Pravda dated 13 November 1957 of the dog Laika,

Postage stamp commemorating Sputnik 1.

File picture dated 1958, of the Russian rocket Sputnik III, presented in Brussels during an international show.

October 6 1957 photo of the front page of the Sovietic newspaper Pravda after the launch of the Sputnik.

The creators of Explorer 1 holding a model of the rocket February 1, 1958. From left to right: Ph.D. William Pickering, Ph.D. James Van Allen, Ph.D. Wernher von Braun.

The U.S. response to Sputnik was the launch of the Explorer 1, which orbited Earth every 115 minutes, some 220 miles above the surface of the planet at its nearest point.

Real-size replica of a Sputnik outside the Madrid Planetarium. The replica was installed in 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Sputnik's first launching.

Buzz Aldrin salutes the U.S. flag. Aldrin and fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first humans to land on the Moon on July 20, 1969.