If an American happened to be gazing at the stars on Friday, October 4, 1957 they may have noticed an object crossing the evening sky. Radio listeners, too, may have heard a series of “beep, beep, beep” sounds coming from their radios. A momentous event had occurred in the region of the Soviet Union known as Kazakhstan-the Soviets had launched an artificial satellite into orbit around the earth. The satellite named Sputnik, Russian for “traveling companion,” transmitted the beeping sounds as it followed its orbit around the globe. Rather than celebrating this momentous scientific feat, Americans reacted with a great deal of fear. The event came at a period near the end of the McCarthy communist “witch hunts,” a time when schoolchildren were involved in “Duck and Cover” air raid drills, and citizens were encouraged to build their own civil defense shelters. It was widely believed that if the Soviets could launch a satellite into space, they probably could launch nuclear missiles capable of reaching U.S. shores.
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The following are documents available on Sputnik:
Memorandum of Conference, President Eisenhower, Detlev Bronk, Sherman Adams, James Hagerty, Andrew Goodpaster concerning reaction to Sputnik:
Meeting with Bronk et al Oct 8-1957
Memorandum of Conference, President Eisenhower, science advisors, Robert Cutler, Andrew Goodpaster concerning American science education and Sputnik:
Memo of Conversation Pres-Rabi-Berkner et al Oct 16 1957-Page 1
Memo of Conversation Pres-Rabi-Berkner et al Oct 16 1957-Page 2
Memo of Conversation Pres-Rabi-Berkner et al Oct 16 1957-Page 3
Memo of Conversation Pres-Rabi-Berkner et al Oct 16 1957-Page 4
Memorandum of Conference, President Eisenhower, James Killian, George Kistiakowsky and Andrew Goodpaster concerning progress of missiles program:
Memo of Conference with Pres, Killian, Kistiakowsky Feb 6, 1958 page 1
Memo of Conference with Pres, Killian, Kistiakowsky Feb 6, 1958 page 2
Memo of Conference with Pres, Killian, Kistiakowsky Feb 6, 1958 page 3
Memo of Conference with Pres, Killian, Kistiakowsky Feb 6, 1958 page 4
Memorandum of Conference, President Eisenhower, Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald Quarles, Alan Waterman (National Science Foundation), William Holady (Deputy Secretary of Defense for Research and Development), John Hagen, Sherman Adams, Wilton Persons, James Hagerty, Howard Pyle, Bryce Harlow, Robert Cutler and Andrew Goodpaster concerning the earth satellite:
Memo of Conference with President Oct 8 1957- page 1
Memo of Conference with President Oct 8 1957- page 2
Minutes of the Cabinet Meeting concerning improvements in science and mathematics education:
Minutes of Cabinet Meeting Dec. 2, 1957 Page 1
Minutes of Cabinet Meeting Dec. 2, 1957 Page 2
Minutes of Cabinet Meeting Dec. 2, 1957 Page 3
Minutes of Cabinet Meeting Dec. 2, 1957 Page 4
Notes on the Legislative Leadership Meeting concerning improvements in science and mathematics education:
Notes of Legislative Leadership Meeting Dec 4, 1957 Page 1
Notes of Legislative Leadership Meeting Dec 4, 1957 Page 13
Notes of Legislative Leadership Meeting Dec 4, 1957 Page 14
Summary of Discussion, 357th Meeting of the National Security Council concerning "U.S. Objectives in Space Exploration and Science":
Summary of Discussion 357th mtg March 6th, 1958 Page 1
Summary of Discussion 357th mtg March 6th, 1958 Page 7
Summary of Discussion 357th mtg March 6th, 1958 Page 8
Summary of Discussion 357th mtg March 6th, 1958 Page 9
Summary of Discussion, 339th Meeting of the National Security Council October 10, 1957 concerning "Implications of the Soviet Earth Satellite For U.S. Security" and "Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) Programs":
Summary of NSC discussion 339th mtg Oct 11, 1957 1-14
Supplementary Notes on the Legislative Leadership Meeting concerning the "Outer Space Program":
Supplementary Notes Feb 4, 1958 Page 1
Supplementary Notes Feb 4, 1958 Page 2
Supplementary Notes Feb 4, 1958 Page 3
Text of address on "Our Future Security" delivered by the President in Oklahoma City. Subjects include military programs and satellite projects:
Presidential Address Nov 13 1957 page 1
Presidential Address Nov 13 1957 page 2
Presidential Address Nov 13 1957 page 3
Presidential Address Nov 13 1957 page 4
Presidential Address Nov 13 1957 page 5
Presidential Address Nov 13 1957 page 6
Presidential Address Nov 13 1957 page 7
Text of address by the President delivered from the Oval Office in the White House on "Science in National Security":
Presidential Address Nov 7 1957 pg 1
Presidential Address Nov 7 1957 pg 2
Presidential Address Nov 7 1957 pg 3
Presidential Address Nov 7 1957 pg 4
Presidential Address Nov 7 1957 pg 5
Presidential Address Nov 7 1957 pg 6
Presidential Address Nov 7 1957 pg 7
Presidential Address Nov 7 1957 pg 8
Official White House transcript of President Eisenhower's Press and Radio Converence #123 concerning the development by the U.S. of an earth satellite:
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 1
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 2
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 3
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 4
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 5
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 6
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 7
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 8
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 9
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 10
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 11
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 12
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 13
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 14
Press Conference Oct 9 1957-pg 15
For a list of collections at the Eisenhower Library containing documentation on Sputnik and the early history of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, please see the NASA Search Report .
Secondary resources on this topic include:
"Eisenhower, Sputnik, and the Creation of NASA" by Roger D. Launius, Prologue, Summer 1996, Vol. 28, No. 2.
Between Sputnik and the Shuttle: New Perspectives on American Astronautics (American Astronautical Society History Series, Volume 3) edited by Frederick C. Durrant III, AAS Publications, San Diego, 1981.
...The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age by Walter A. McDougall, Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, New York, 1985.
A Scientist at the White House: The Private Diary of President Eisenhower's Special Assistant for Science and Technology by George B. Kistiakowsky, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, and London England, 1976.
Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership, edited by Roger D. Launius and Howard E. McCurdy, University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago, 1997.
The Sputnik Challenge by Robert A. Divine, Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 1993.
Sputnik, Scientists, and Eisenhower: A Memoir of the First Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology by James R. Killian, Jr., The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA and London, England, 1977.
The Sputniks Crisis and Early United States Space Policy: A Critique of the Historiography of Space by Rip Bulkeley, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1991.
Use these searches to find information on any of the Presidential Libraries web sites. Check the box next to the library or libraries you wish to search.
Enter search terms to narrow your search.
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