Sputnik's 50th anniversary on October 4.

[greatauntoftriplets]

http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/documents/2000/nsb00215/nsb50/1950/crisis_opp.html

Anybody else remember going out to watch the satellite in the sky? And how much does this out me as a geezer?

[flvegan]

1. Wow.

I didn't know they were that old.

[TrogL]

2. I feel old

I was pretty young at the time. My father had some sort of official involvement with International Geophysical Year (http://www.nas.edu/history/igy/) and all I remember is a lot of phone calls and then everybody standing the back yard pointing at something. Apparently IGY had some influence on the timing of the launch (http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/siddiqi.html).

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. I was a kid, but remember being fascinated by it.

That and Telstar. Remember the song?

[TrogL]

4. i remember the early satellite TV broadcasts

eg. Winston Churchill's funeral