Russian Space Travel

Tomorrow, October 4th, 2007 marks the 50th Anniversary of the launch of the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik. Sputnik was launched by the USSR in 1957, the Americans' great dismay. Not only had they been beaten by the Soviets in their race to launch a satellite, there was general anxiety about the Soviets' capabilities to launch ballistic missiles.

The US and Russia have long been rivals in space travel. However, earthly concerns have kept Russia (and the US, to some extent), busy. A celebration of the anniversary of the launch of Sputnik will be held tomorrow in DC. If you think about it, it's amusing. The Russian Ambassador will come to the US capital to celebrate - but what he's really doing is reminding everyone that the Russians did it first.