50 YEARS AGO: On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik-1, marking the beginning of the Space Age. The first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, Sputnik 1 was a 23-inch diameter sphere ...
In 1958, in the wake of Russia’s Sputnik launch, the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency was formed to prevent any further “technological surprises” and create a few of its own. Sixty years on, ...