The Vanguard Debacle

During my childhood, I remember referring to the USSR as "The Bad Guys."  I watched movies where the Soviets were the villains.  I was always so happy when the American heroes prevailed. Even though I grew up living in fear of atomic warfare and Kremlin spies, I was confident that the US would prevail.  However, as I began to study history, I realized that there was a time when Americans were was not as confident in their inevitable victory.

On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched the first man-made satellite into space.  Even the name of this spacecraft, the Sputnik, still has a negative connotation in our country.  Americans were shocked that the Soviets had beaten us to the punch.  While we recognized their power, we always felt that we were better and would accomplish every major event first.  Hadn't we built the first atomic weapon?  So when we realized that the USSR was winning the Space Race, we were taken aback, but still confident in our ability to do better.  On November 3, 1957, the Soviets launched the Sputnik 2.  This satellite even had a dog named Laika inside it.  Americans were worried, of course, but knew that our government would not let us down. 

The government's most brilliant scientists quickly whipped together a satellite of their own.  The Vanguard.  Americans were excited that we could officially enter the Space Race.  They were soon to be very disappointed.  On December 6, 1957, the Vanguard was launched at Cape Canaveral, Florida.  The Vanguard successfully lifted about four feet off the ground, but then quickly collapsed and exploded into flames.  This was the worst possible news for Americans.  The Soviets had already successully launched two satellites and yet we could not even get one higher than four feet off of the ground.  Our confidence in the superiority of our nation was faltering.

Thankfully, some good things came out of this debacle.  The government decided to officially create NASA.  This group eventually helped us win the Space Race.  Another great outcome was that Congress passed the National Defense Education Act.  This law provided funding to increase the amount of science and math taught to American students.  Never again, were we going to fall behind the Soviets.