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10/04/2007: "Happy Birthday Sputnik!"

Fifty years ago today, ham radio operators discovered a new signal to listen to - one unlike anything they'd heard before ...

beep ... beep ... beep ...

The government was intrigued as well, but only because of where that sound was coming from - a small metallic sphere passing overhead every 90 minutes. And it placed there by - gasp - the Russians.

Sputnik.

It's not like we weren't trying out own efforts to put a satellite in orbit - it's just that theirs was up there, and ours kept blowing up. And the generals all knew that if they could put a beeping sphere over our heads, it was just a matter of time until they could rain nukes down upon America.

So began the "space race" - a Cold War game of chicken to see who could possess the ultimate high ground. The Soviet Union held the high hand for quite a while, following the success of Sputnik with the first astronaut, Yuri Gagarin. It wasn't until the late Sixties when the Russians stumbled and we placed men on the moon that we finally nudged ahead. In fact, the Kremlin's desire to maintain their space edge drained their coffers to the point that it played a significant role in the eventual breakup of the Soviet Union.

Today, of course, we couldn't imagine life without products that depend on satellites. Watching the MLB playoffs? How do you think that signal gets from Fenway Park to your TV? Heading offshore this weekend? It's a satellite that allows your EPIRB to summon the Coast Guard. Hitting the ATM on the way home? That ATM will query your bank to see if you have sufficient funds using - that's right - a satellite.

It was just a little sphere. But it was an amazing achievement.