2-548-206 - © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images

Sputnik 1, Russian satellite, 1957. Launched on 4 October 1957, Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. The success of the mission caused panic in the United States, which had believed it held the lead in space technology, and sparked the Space Race between the two global superpowers. Found in the collection of the State Museum of History, Moscow.