On this day in 1957, the United States was shocked by the Soviet Union. The Soviets achieved a milestone with the launching of the world’s first artificial satellite, and the U.S. would have to race to catch up.
Today, many worry that the U.S. has lost its edge not just in space but in terms of being a nation of innovators. So what will it take to wake the country up?
“I don’t like Sputnik moments,” says the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in the video below. It means you are playing catch-up. “Sputnik moments, you reserve those for grand visions that take your mind, body and soul to places that no one had previously dreamed.”