<![CDATA[io9: Sputnik]]> http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: Sputnik]]> http://io9.com/tag/sputnik http://io9.com/tag/sputnik <![CDATA[Ben Bova predicted Sputnik in 1949, but no publisher would touch his novel]]> Often, when science fiction novels get rejected, there's some political shenanigans at work. Take case of Ben Bova, whose first novel correctly predicted that the Soviet Union would beat the United States into space — and publishers wouldn't handle it. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5668217&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Science Fiction Has Been "Dying" For A Long Time]]> Tired of people claiming science fiction is dead because real life has "caught up" with it? They've been saying that since Sputnik, points out Dave Truesdale over at Asimov's, responding to Neal Asher's rant about doomsayers who pronounce SF dead. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5435620&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Soviets Lost Cold War, Won Pulp Scifi Sweepstakes]]> In the heady days before Sputnik, the Soviet Union was bursting with enthusiasm for space travel and the conquest of big-headed aliens with tentacles coming off their faces. Dark Roasted Blend has posted a gallery of pulpy Soviet scifi art that's full of speed lines, light rays, spaceships, giant robots and killer aliens. Click through for our favorite Soviet futuristic art blasts. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=387737&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The Cartoon that Introduced Sputnik to America, 1957]]> I love the industrial animation used in this newsreel introducing Americans to Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviets on October 4, 1957. Despite fears of red space supremacy, Americans immediately started eating sputnikburgers and talking about pupniks (Sputnik II carried a dog into space), whatniks, beatniks, and spoofniks ... but I digress. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=385678&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Blast Off With The Spotnicks]]> Sweden, 1961. Entertainment history is made when, in tribute to the satellite launched by the USSR four years earlier, an obscure rock 'n' roll group changes its name to The Spotnicks and starts wearing spacesuits onstage. Fame, fortune, and number one hits in Australia and Japan soon follow. Here, in 1962, the group performs "The Rocket Man" (definitely NOT the Elton John hit from a decade later, though Sir Elton would probably appreciate their suggestively shaped helmets). More »
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