A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey
Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, the first ever artifical satellite to be put into orbit around the Earth. Russians marked the event today by erecting a monument of the satellite near Moscow and laying flowers at the grave of Sergei Korolyov, Sputnik's creator.
The anniversary of the Space Race's beginning is marked in the publishing world with the realease of A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey: 1957 - The Space Race Begins by Michael D'Antonio. D'Antonio tells the story of America's reaction to Sputnik and to Sputnik II, launched the following month with a little dog named Laika on board. D'Antonio narrates America's harried attempts to follow quickly on the heals of the Soviets by sending a squirrel monkey into orbit. Pulitzer prize-winning journalist D'Antonio delivers an entertaining historical account full of pictures and the firsthand accounts from ordinary people.