Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... Credit: MSFC Historical Archives Explanation: Sputnik means "traveling companion". In stark contrast to this innocent sounding name, the launch of the Earth's first "artificial moon", Sputnik 1 , by the Soviets on October 4, 1957 shocked the free world, setting in motion events which resulted in the creation of NASA and the race to the Moon . ... A short month later, on November 3, the Soviets followed this success by launching a dog into orbit aboard Sputnik 2. ...