Sometimes, however, a shock to the system can open political opportunities. Suddenly the nation found itself lagging behind the Russians in the Space Race, and Americans worried that their educational system was not producing enough scientists and engineers. During the Cold War, Americans until that moment had felt protected by their technological superiority. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union shocked the people of the United States by successfully launching the first earth-orbiting satellite, Sputnik.
