2. A major step forward came when President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a plan to orbit a scientific satellite of our own of a of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) for the period, July 1, 1957 to December 31, 1958, a cooperative effort to gather scientific data about the Earth. The Soviet Union quickly followed suit, announcing plans to orbit its own satellitelite.

3. A full-scale crisis resulted on October 4, 1957 when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. S PUTINIK 1

4. More immediately, the United States launched its first Earth satellite on January 31, 1958, when Explorer 1 documented the existence of radiation zones encircling the Earth..

5. A direct result of the Sputnik crisis, NASA began operations on October 1, 1958, The u.s also began a series of scientific missions to the Moon and orbital flights in the later 1950s and early 1960s.