Sputnik 1

I really like how McNamara's Into the Final Frontier portrayed the Soviets' launch of Sputnik 1 (ironically translated into English as Companion 1), the first satellite in space. All around the world, people were able to tune their radios to hear the constantly taunting signal being emitted from the satellite, and it must have been pretty disturbing for the Americans to hear it  and watch it passing overhead in the night sky.

Senator Lyndon Johnson provided some very interesting imagery, "That sky had always been so friendly, and it had brought us beautiful stars and moonlight and comfort; all at once it seemed to have some question marks all over it..." Now the sky was becoming a sort of battlefield: who would get out there and claim it first? The Soviets were already making a lot of progress, especially when they launched Sputnik 2, complete with scientific instruments and the dog, Laika.

Although it was fortunate that we were the first to actually put a man on the moon, it seems perhaps a little foolish that we became materialistic and spent time enjoying cars and television. Launching a satellite was not a priority for the United States—but even the Soviets had been a bit delayed in starting their satellite program.

I wonder what the difference was between the United States and the Soviet Union that allowed the Soviets to launch the first satellite? Was it because they were communist? Or did they have even more determination than the Americans because they had suffered such great losses during World War II?