Online Video Guide

Fifty years ago, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into outer space on Oct. 4, 1957. Its beep-beep broadcast a profound change in the world. The shock waves from that event continue to this day. A new documentary feature length film, Sputnik Mania, has just been completed to coincide with the anniversary of this defining moment in human history. The film tells the whole story of the launch of Sputnik and what happened to America during the following year. It presents not only previously lost footage from the 50s, but also an extraordinary collection of big-name and unknown interviews as well as recently declassified insights into the high-level decisions that followed the dawn of the space age and launched the superpowers on a missile race. The launch of Sputnik initially thrilled Americans. But within a surprisingly short time, that enthusiasm descended into fear and anxiety as politicians and the media whipped the public into a frenzy over Sputnik and the rocket that launched it --