well, it's all called the Space Race. the united states and Russia were racing against each other to who could go out in space and got to the moon first.
Sputnik helped identify the density of the upper atmosphere. It also helped understand radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere. It detected meteoroid strikes.
Sputniks purpose was to see how satellites could be put into space, and to monitor many things such as air density while in space. Sputnik was a spherical shaped craft with four antennas, and many measuring devices. Transmissions were sent to earth through beeping, which not only relayed information, but told Soviets more about how radio waves work in space. Another thing that made Sputnik's shape relevant to its use was its core. The main body of the craft was filled with Nitrogen; If Sputnik got hit by asteroids, astrologists would be able to tell and judge how much effect asteroids had on it. Sputnik was the first frontier in learning more about space and what it's like.
Sputnik did not launch from the moon, and it did not land on the moon.
why was the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 so significant?
Nyet.
Sputnik was the first successful launch.
The space race
As far as we know, it didn't. But if you can launch something harmless into orbit, you can also launch something dangerous into orbit, which was a big part of the fear caused by the Sputnik launch.
It was caused by the cold war in the 1950s as the soviets wanted to launch the sputnik.
October 4, 1957 was the exact date of the Sputnik launch.
Sputnik 1 is long gone. It burnt up on re-entry a few months after launch.
Russian launch of Sputnik
The launch of Sputnik by USSR
It frightened america