Advent 17 — Sputnik fall

Dec 17, 2010 Alun Life 1 Comment Advent Calendar

Tomor­row marks the anniversary of fall of Sput­nik, the first arti­fi­cial satel­lite from orbit. It’s an example of how sci­entific pro­gress so often doesn’t make much sense without the social con­text. David Hoff­man shows why the rest of the world was wor­ried by the pres­ence of a small metal ball that was briefly in orbit.