And the Space Age began with a SUPRISE! This day, in 1957.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

Remember the fifties, those fat complacent days
When the future seemed a century away?
Then up went Sputnik, gave the world a butt-kick,
And made it clear tomorrow starts today.

Beep beep, boop boop, hello there! (Gazhupa!)
Sputnik sails giggling through the sky. (hey! hey! hey!)
Red flags, red faces, jump in the race as
The space age begins with a surprise. (surprise!)

Today, in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite into space, causing jaws to drop & eyes to pop the world over.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/4/newsid_2685000/2685115.stm

Full lyrics to the song, below.

http://12tinams.phidji.com/thienvanhoc/mp3/lyrics/space%20filk/Surprise.txt

Many thanks, Comrades! You got us started onto the Final Frontier!

[justwannano]

I remember Mom saying " They are watching us."

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

@justwannano

I remember Mom saying " They are watching us."

Given the later spy satellites, she wasn’t too far wrong…

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor

Given the later spy satellites, she wasn’t too far wrong…

And, on a related note—

http://www.space.com/news/051003_nro_poppy.html
5 years after Sputnik, the US launches its second generation spy sat.

[justwannano]

@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor

Given the later spy satellites, she wasn’t too far wrong…

Yeah but all this thing did was "go BEEP BEEP Beep. " Mom was known to get excited easily anyway.

I guess we have grown accustomed to the possibility of the “Big brother is watching” senario.

Geez if thats all they have to do is to watch me they must be REALLY REALLY bored.

[John_Carter_of_Mars]

You shoulda’ been there! They (somebody) told us that you could see the Sputnik in the late afternoon sky, catchin’ the sun’s rays like an airplane. For several afternoons all of us teeny-boppers that hung out at the drugstore piled out on the sidewalk in front, lookin’ up at the sky; lookin’ for Sputnik.

Maybe somebody somewhere could see it, I don’t know. I never saw the damn thing and after a while I guessed that they were bullshittin’ us about being able to see it.

[Fromage_A_Trois]

Well, I don’t know about Sputnik, it was only small, but you can see satellites. They look just like stars, but they move. I like keeping a watch for them on warm clear nights.