Happy Birthday, Sputnik!

The Space Age was launched fifty years ago today. From VOA News:

Fifty years ago, on October 4, 1957, the former Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite into Earth's orbit, called Sputnik, which began a space race with the United States. While the intense competition that marked the early years of space no longer exists, experts agree Sputnik forever changed the perception of outer space and its possibilities. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.

With a diameter of 58 centimeters and weighing about 83 kilograms, Sputnik was about the size of a large, silvery pumpkin, with strange-looking antennae protruding from it.
And then there was the famous sound picked up by radio operators around the world as Sputnik orbited the earth.

A "Sputnik sound" might make a pretty cool ringtone, actually...