On 4 October 1957, the Russians won the first round of the epic "space race" between the Soviet Union and the United States by successfully launching a satellite into orbit around the Earth. The spherical, 56 centimetre (22 inch) Sputnik was fired into space using rockets developed from wartime V2 rockets used by the Nazis.

The V2 rockets had been developed for the purpose of carrying hydrogen-bombs great distances around the world. Sergei Korolyev, the project's chief designer was serving a life sentence for treason at Kolyma Gulag when the World War II ended and Stalin made him responsible for locating German rocket engineers in the Soviet zone to exploit their skills. When Khrushkev needed an image boosting propaganda coup to convince the USA that the USSR had developed intercontinental missiles, Korolyev was put in charge of designing a satellite.

Although given only six weeks to design Sputnik, the project was a success. Passing over Asia, Europe and the US, a message of triumph was transmitted from a battery-powered radio contained in the satellite. But before the year was out, history was made again. On November 3, a second satellite, Sputnik II was fired into space carrying the first animal in space -- a female dog named Laika. Laika was launched into orbit for the purpose of studying the effects of space travel on animals in preparation of sending humans.