October 4, 1957, The Beginning of the Space Age

[RichieB16]

50 years ago today, on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the worlds first satelite Sputnik 1 on an R-7 rocket.  This event started the space race.

Sputnik orbited Earth for 3 months reentering on January 4, 1958.  

[WebbPA]

Amusing trivia:

The Sputnik 1 rocket booster also reached Earth orbit and was visible from the ground at night as a first magnitude object, while the small but highly polished sphere, barely visible at sixth magnitude, was more difficult to follow optically.

People who thought they were looking at the basketball were actually looking at the booster, the world's second artificial satellite.

Link to quote.

[RichieB16]

I read that the other day too, I had never known that before.  I had never given it any thought, but it made sense.  Quite funny actually.