Sputnik's anniversary raises questions about future of space exploration

USA Today: Fifty years ago next week, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I — little more than a beeping metal ball — into space. Never before had an artificial object orbited the Earth.

That achievement on Oct. 4, 1957, stunned and alarmed America. It also triggered an epic space race between the world's superpowers that would culminate nearly 12 years later, when Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. The Soviets never made it there.