sputnik 1 7.5 cm round badge

On October 4, 1957 at 19:28:34 GMT, now more then 50 years ago a beeping 22-inch aluminium sphere called Sputnik 1 marked the beginning of the so called 'Space Age'. Sputnik 1 (Russian: "Спутник-1", "Satellite-1", or literally "Co-traveller-1" byname ПС-1 (PS-1, i.e. "Простейший Спутник-1", or Elementary Satellite-1)) was the first artificial satellite to be put into geocentric orbit. The launch provoked a great resonance in the world. The Russian word sputnik quickly entered into many languages. The first pages of world press were filled with headlines that expressed admiration to the achievement of the Soviet Union. It was described as the greatest sensation of the century and the Russian wonder that opened the space era. This event lead to the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States and changed the course of history. It finally led to man's first step on Moon, satellites exploring the outer reaches of our solar system, satellite TV, improved weather forecasts and a higly improved communications infrastructure including the internet.