Spaced Out
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite into orbit around the earth, and the Space Race was under way. Check out NASA's website for a cool multimedia presentation commemorating the 50th anniversary of the launch; it includes a 3D model of Sputnik and biographies of key U.S. and Soviet players. Danbury Library has a selection of new books dealing with the personalities and institutions battling it out in this epic rivalry. The story of Sputnik and the birth of the Space Age is chronicled in A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey: 1957 The Space Race Begins, Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age, and Sputnik: The Shock of the Century.
Space Race : The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space is a fascinating look at rival rocket scientists Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev. And Live from Cape Canaveral: Covering the Space Race from Sputnik to Today is a wonderful memoir by pioneering journalist Jay Barbree.