Read this passage from The Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world’s first satellite into orbit: Sputnik 1. Americans stared skyward in uncertainty as Sputnik circled the globe. To some it was an omen; to others, it was a challenge. The United States was gripped in fear—if the USSR could put a shiny ball of aluminum into space, it could do the same with a spy satellite—or worse.

The TV-3 rocket—and America’s space ambitions—toppled over into a massive cloud of fire and smoke. The Daily Express exclaimed "Kaputnik,” and the headline of The News Chronicle was "Stayputnik.” After this embarrassing debacle, von Braun and his team at JPL (The California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory) scrambled to answer Sputnik’s challenge.



What is the most likely reason that Sputnik receives so much attention?

because it was so complex
because it had military uses
because it was part of the competition between the US and USSR
because it was part of the Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory