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Sputniks

Cultural  
  1. A series of Soviet satellites launched in 1957 and in following years. These were the first artificial satellites.


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The appearance of Sputnik stimulated a great deal of effort in the education of scientists and engineers in the United States. This period is now referred to as the post-Sputnik boom.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They fly high in rockets and Sputniks to measure the energy of cosmic rays.

From Time Magazine Archive

Instead of spiraling down slowly, like the Sputniks and Explorer I, it will stay on an almost stable orbit that will be only slightly disturbed by irregularities of the earth's gravitation.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Soviet government countered by rushing its Sputniks into orbit.

From Time Magazine Archive

When Russia's scientists put their Sputniks into orbit, they undermined at one stroke many of the West's most cherished assumptions about the world balance of power.

From Time Magazine Archive

This was the very thing that had led to such shocks as the launching of the early Sputniks.

From Combat by Reynolds, Mack

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