Sputnik Mania

Walter Cronkite ponders the significance of USSR's launch of Sputnik

Documentary looking back at the USSR's Sputnik satellite

Clip from Sputnik Mania shows the American campaign to prove that Sputnik was a threat to America, and the first attempt to put a spark under the Cold War.

News report shown in Sputnik Mania, that gets concluded by Walter Cronkite.

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 -- a rocket that could easily have been used as a Soviet ICBM missile attacking our cities. Then-Senator Lyndon Johnson compared Sputnik to another Pearl Harbor. Only months after Sputnik s launch, 60% of Americans thought that nuclear war was imminent and that 50% of the American population would likely die (Gallup Poll, April 1958). Throughout 1958, as tensions increased, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. between them tested a nuclear bomb in the atmosphere every three days. Americans were told by government leaders to build personal bomb shelters and stockpile emergency supplies. By June 10, 1958, with America s first satellite also in space, tens of millions participated in a nationwide underground civil defense drill. Created by veteran filmmaker David Hoffman, who pored through thousands of hours of archival footage, Sputnik Mania contains a wealth of forgotten scenes, news accounts and recent interviews. Sputnik Mania includes historic clips of: Soviets building the first rockets and satellite

Clip from Sputnik Mania shows a news report covering the launch of Project Vanguard. Which was unsuccessful.

Gergei Khrushchev explains the idea of communism, and its relationship to Jesus Christ.