Sputnik 1, launched from the Soviet Union’s rocket ... From the repeated failures of those early launch vehicles, we learned that spaceflight was not going to be easy; perhaps that is why ...

Sputnik 1 was protected by a cone-shaped payload fairing while attached to the rocket. The launch was a roller coaster ride, ...

Sputnik 1's liftoff on Oct. 4, 1957 sparked worries in the U.S., made all the more vexing by the embarrassing and humiliating failure later that year of America's first satellite launch when the U ...