'Sputnik moment': It's 1957 all over again
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President Obama and other leaders recently have labeled current times "our generation's Sputnik moment," calling for a renewed focus on education and innovation.
Is the United States facing a new "Sputnik moment?”
President Barack Obama seems to think so. So does Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.). And Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
As though sharing speech notes, all three have publicly referred to now as being “our Sputnik moment” within the last two weeks. Is the White House revisiting Sputnik to save technology?
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“In 1957, just before this college opened, the Soviet Union beat us into space by launching a satellite known as Sputnik,” Obama said in a speech at Forsyth Technical Community College in North Carolina on Dec. 6. “And that was a wake-up call that caused the United States to boost our investment in innovation and education -– particularly in math and science.”
“So 50 years later," he continued, "our generation’s Sputnik moment is back.”
The year 1957 saw taller tail fins on new cars with more powerful engines. Singer Little Richard might have been blaring from the radio. As you drove down the street you may have seen children playing with slinkys and Hula Hoops, according to The People History website. "Twelve Angry Men" was the hot flick and the TV show "Maverick" aired for the first time. But what does 1957 have to do with 2010 and beyond?
Research and development continue to play a prominent role in the national discussion about restoring America’s economic prosperity,” wrote Richard M. Jones of the American Institute of Physics in response to President Obama’s speech.
President Obama’s goal is “to increase education and science spending to 3 percent the size of the economy, a significant increase from current levels,” according to the New York Times' The Caucus.
Sen. Kerry continued the message this past weekend on "Meet the Press." “We need to kick America into gear,” he said, according to an NBC news release. “This is our Sputnik moment. We’ve sort of seen Sputnik going across the sky, but we’ve done nothing similar to what we did in the 1960s to respond to it.”
One of Energy Secretary Chu's slides from a speech he gave last week displayed the Oct.4, 1957 newspaper headline on the Sputnik launch and President Dwight Eisenhower’s ominous response, reported NetworkWorld.
According to The People History, this is what was happening globally in technology in 1957:
- Ultrasound scanning is pioneered in Scotland.
- First Nuclear Reactor plant opens for production of electricity in Pennsylvania.
- The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, on Oct. 4, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. (It weighed 184 pounds, measured 22 inches in diameter, and circled the Earth every 1 hour, 36 minutes.)
- Soviets test the H Bomb.
- Great Britain tests first hydrogen bomb.
- The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter space - a dog named Laika.
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