The US got jealous
Once engaged on a war, no way to come back.
Because the Sputnik program ended with Sputnik 3. Albeit there was a Sputnik 40 and 41 but these were to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Sputnik 1.
Launching of Sputnik
Launched the first satellite- Sputnik.
Sputnik came as a surprise, the US did not know about it in advance.
Sputnik didn't humiliate the US; it triggered the space race and heightened Cold War tensions.
Nyet.
If they can put a satellite in orbit they can launch a H-bomb at us too. It wasn't quite true with Sputnik 1, but it was with Sputnik 2.
The US got jealous
The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) -- Russia launched Sputnik
Dwight Eisenhower was the US President.
We cried.
we didn't the USSR did
The launch of Sputnik made many Americans a little upset that their all time rivals had beaten them into space. There were numerous comics and television shows calling that generation of Americans the beat generation.
Sputnik 2.
NASA