What is Sputnik programme?
{{Use British English}} [[Image:Sputnik asm.jpg|thumb|240px|A model of [[Sputnik 1]]]] The '''Sputnik programme''' was a [[Soviet Union]] [[spacecraft]] programme.<ref name=nasa1 /> [[Sputnik 1]], the first satellite in the programme, was launched on October 4, 1957.<ref name=nasa1>{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1957-001B|title=Sputnik 1|publisher=NASA NSSDC|accessdate=2011-12-24|archive-date=2011-10-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019150227/http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1957-001B|url-status=dead}}</ref> This was the first man-made satellite ever to enter [[orbit]].<ref name=nasa1 /> The [[United States]] was very surprised when the Soviet Union sent [[Sputnik 1]] into [[Outer space|space]]. It did not want to fall behind. So, it began spending more money on [[science]] and [[education]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Jackie|last=Calmes|url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/obama-calls-for-new-sputnik-moment|title=Obama Calls for New 'Sputnik Moment'|work=The New York Times|date=2010-12-06|accessdate=2011-12-24}}</ref> This was when the [[Space Race]] between the Soviet Union and the United States began. == Etymology == The word ''Sputnik'' comes from the {{lang-ru|Спутник||fellow traveler}}, {{IPA|'sput.nik}} or {{IPA|'sput.nık}}, not {{IPA|'spʌt.nık}}.<ref name=nasa1 /><ref>{{cite book|last=Siddiqi|first=Asif A.|title=Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge|publisher=University of Florida Press|date=2003|page=155|isbn=0-8130-2627-X}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} == Other websites == {{Commons-inline|Sputnik}} * [http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Sputnik Sputnik], [[Citizendium]] {{authority control}} [[Category:Soviet satellites]] [[Category:1950s in the Soviet Union]] [[Category:1950s in spaceflight]]