We were on a weekend outing from 3-5 October in 1958

We were on a weekend outing from 3-5 October in 1958. Mom and Dad drove up on Sunday the 5th to pick me up. Dad immediately handed me the Sunday Beaumont Enterprise. Covering the front page in red type: REDS IN SPACE!!! The Soviet Union had launched the first artificial earth satellite, Sputnik.

A propaganda victory for the Soviets, Sputnik circled the earth every 90 minutes or so and its onboard transmitter emitted a couple of beeps per second. The Soviets had announced the frequency of the transmission so that the entire world could tune in and hear the beeps.

A few days later Dad took us all to a dark spot on Bigner road and we watched ‘Sputnik’ go across the western sky just after dusk. We probably did not see the satellite itself, but rather its launch vehicle which was in the same orbit.

The launch put the fear of God into the US leadership. If they could launch a satellite, they could launch a missile as well. The US scrambled to catch up. The famous missile gap was fear inducing.