When the
Soviets launched the first manmade satellite ever into space on Oct. 4, 1957, a wave of shock and awe swept the United States and the world. Religious leaders
predicted the second coming of Christ, military leaders warned darkly of enemy
propaganda and future threats, and ordinary Americans found themselves
questioning both their nation's standing in the world and their personal safety
in daily life.
David
Hoffman's documentary film brilliantly captures the "Sputnik
Mania" that seized the United States
at the start of the Space Age. Modern viewers can instantly relate to the
uncertainty visible on American faces from the era, and the film becomes a reminder
of how a single event can rattle the national psyche.
Hoffman draws
on a treasure trove of news broadcasts, government reels, commercials, and some
previously unseen or classified footage to tell Sputnik's
story. At the time, NBC News called Sputnik "the most important story of
the century," and the media flooded radio and television with wild speculations
about what the satellite could do. Looking back on the near-hysteria provides
equal parts laughter and unease.
Some
experts thought that satellite would take control of the airwaves and broadcast
Communist propaganda directly into American homes, while others predicted the
threat of nuclear bombs dropped from space. Sputnik's launch not only ramped up
on the arms race on both sides of the Cold War, but also raised the threat of
militarizing space just as space exploration had begun – echoing current
concerns regarding a space arms race
with China.
Hoffman
also dives gleefully into the other side of Sputnik mania, when a sense of
exuberance about the new space frontier transformed much of American pop
culture. Teens grooved to satellite-inspired songs, and a Nobel Prize laureate
wryly recalled how several friends ended up missing fingers due to their
hazardous hobbies in amateur rocket clubs.
The film
concludes just a year after Sputnik's launch with President Eisenhower's
decision to create a civilian, not military, space agency called NASA in 1958.
The film's hopeful end-note for the peaceful exploration of space coincides
with NASA's celebration of its 50th anniversary this year.
"Sputnik
Mania" opened on March 14, 2008 at the IFC Center in New York City for a two-week
run.
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