Sputnik Information and Events
NASA’s Sputnik history page
This page, celebrating the 50th anniversary and the history of Sputnik, provides a bibliography, biographies of the major characters in the Sputnik story, a chronology of the events leading to the first Soviet and American satellites, selected images, and other documents related to Sputnik.
International Astronautical Federation
This site details the IAF’s celebration of the fifty years of spaceflight, which culminated in an event a March 2007 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.
International Sputnik Day (Home)
International Sputnik Day (Blog)
Seemingly a “home–made” event, this page serves as the home for International Sputnik Day (October 4, 2007), and includes news, merchandise, and links.
Wikipedia’s Sputnik entry
Created by anonymous users of Wikipedia, this site includes interesting and detailed information on the Sputnik program. It also includes images, links to other materials, and statistics about the spacecraft.
After Sputnik: 50 Years of the Space Age
This recent publication from the National Air and Space Museum’s Space History Division features 150 artifacts from the Museum’s collection. The artifacts featured range from the expected (the Apollo 11 capsule) to the very unexpected (Shuttle astronaut Pam Melroy’s “scrunchie”).
collectSPACE’s List of Top Ten Sputniks
The popular space web site collectSPACE counts down the top ten Sputniks, both in reality and popular culture.
Encyclopedia Astronautica
From the most comprehensive online space encyclopedia comes this site, which includes a history of Sputnik, chronology, and links to other materials.
Arianespace news story
This is a news story from the BBC about the launch of 50 nanosats by the European rocket company Arianespace to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Sputnik.
Spunik songs
As part of the popular culture of the space age, these songs represent some of the first lyrical celebrations of Sputnik’s launch and success (transcriptions only, no audio).
Russian 50th Anniversary First Day Cover
Set of three Sputnik anniversary stamps
These sights show images of the official Russian first day of issue cancellations and celebratory stamps for the fiftieth anniversary of the Space Age.
NASM’s Sputnik
Within the Milestones of Flight gallery at the National Air and Space Musuem sits one of the only known official replicas of the actual Sputnik spacecraft.
Science Museum, London’s Sputnik
Among just a handful around the world, the Science Museum, London shows its own Sputnik replica on display in the museum.
The New York Times celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Sputnik
For the fortieth anniversary of Sputnik’s launch, the New York Times worked with Roger Launius — then Chief Historian at NASA — to commemorate the event with various materials.
