A modern Sputnik moment: US must get up to speed on hypersonics

News Snapshot:

Sixty-six years ago, the Soviet Union shocked Americans by launching Sputnik, the globe’s first man-made satellite. While most at the time viewed the U.S. as a more advanced scientific power with the capability to dominate an impending space race, the harsh reality of the Soviets besting American technology came as not only a dire security threat but a national humiliation. President Eisenhower made it a priority to catch up from this setback — just four months later, U.S. engineers sent an even more capable Explorer 1 into orbit. The Eisenhower administration then established NASA, to ensure that the United States...