The Launch Of Sputnik I Stunned Americans Because The United States Had Landed The First Man On The Moon. The Ussr Had Landed The First Man On The Moon. The Ussr Had Launched The World’s First Artificial Satellite. The United States Had Launched The World’s First Artificial Satellite.. 4, 1957, by the soviet union, shocking the united states at the height of the cold war and triggering a space race with the soviets, little. It was launched 50 years ago, on oct.

It was launched 50 years ago, on oct. 4, 1957, by the soviet union, shocking the united states at the height of the cold war and triggering a space race with the soviets, little. Sputnik 1, launched on 4 october 1957 from the soviet union's rocket testing facility in the desert near tyuratam in the kazakh republic, proved a decidedly unspectacular satellite that.