3…2….1…Ignition…..Sputnik, Flopnik and the Great Space Race!

tony — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:30:06 +0000

If you’ve had a chance to check out our new image of the month, then you might already be aware of the space race in the late 1950′s and early 1960′s. The facts remain that this was an uneasy time for the United States and her citizens. Our uneasy World War II alliance with the Soviet Union was rapidly degenerating and the threat of Communism for all was the prevalent mood of the time. So when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in the fall of 1957, according to other sources I found on Wikipedia, the results were: “…panic overtoook the American public, which created an enormous sense of vulnerability…” The upshot here was the the Space Race was on! For the United States, the next few years would see some success in space as well as disasters on the launchpad (particularly for some launches of the Vanguard program–”Flopnik”). However, overall, the United States began to pour resources and scientific know-how into the space program, which ultimately paved the way for the later successes of NASA, Mercury and Apollo. For more information, hit the links below and don’t forget to see our previous posts as well: Links: Ham in Space, or [...]

We’re Back! WordPress 3.0 Update and the Blog—plus a few stories!

tony — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:15:00 +0000

Hello everyone! Well, that latest WordPress 3.0 update just about took us out! I’ve finally gotten the blog rebuilt. There may be a few rough edges here and there, but I think most everything is back in place! Thank you for sticking with us over the last month or so…I appreciate it! If you are a new subscriber or just want to know more about the blog, I’m a librarian, author and history enthusiast. I like posting up stories and information on all types of history and how to find and use the sources that are available in many different forms. I usually try to post a few times a month, but with a busy family and work responsibilities, sometimes I just don’t get the time. I’ve also got a few other pages on the site such as a photo-book-movie of the month, which now that I’ve gotten the blog rebuilt, I will be updating. You can find the current pages at the top of this one in the header. If you like other resources, I’ve got a few links here and there throughout the site. I’ve got the blogroll on the left and some links to other book sites [...]

Adventures in History

3…2….1…Ignition…..Sputnik, Flopnik and the Great Space Race!

We’re Back! WordPress 3.0 Update and the Blog—plus a few stories!