Russia celebrates 50 years since Sputnik 1

Fifty years ago today a bunch of commie atheists whose ancestors were largely serfs 40 years before that launched humanity's first artificial satellite. Russians are celebrating this accomplishment and I think they darn well should. This program scared the living hell out of the United States and pushed this country to seriously enter what's now known as the Space Race, with eventual scientific and economic benefit to the whole world.

I find Sputnik to be a major accomplishment. First we have the starling fact that only 54 years elapsed between the first human heavier than air flight and Sputnik. Beyond that the scientific accomplishments of the USSR, aside from their awful human rights record, are awe-inspiring. The country went from being a totally agrarian monarchy, decidedly backward, to leading the world in space technology in exactly 40 years. It wasn't pretty at all, but that's something to be proud of and one can hardly wonder that a number of people in the Third World would look to the former Soviet Union as a development model instead of the free market disaster of, say, Haiti.

For some stunning claimed audio of (so runs the claim) early unpublicized Soviet space disasters, check out the Lost Cosmonauts site. You'll also want to bring some skepticism and check out this (purported) debunking site. I don't claim to know enough to have a horse in this race.