Sputnik 10 was the first man in space—launched April 12, 1961:
>>>>the first human launched into in outer space, Yuri Gagarin, made his spaceflight on Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961.<<<
A time when the USSR surpassed the US in technology, among other things. And when Obama was born.
“Sputnik” is probably code to his Soviet handlers.
Google “Omnicron and the Sputnik” from Mellotunes. A “New World Prodution” to boot. It’s some homegrown agitprop. Maybe that’s why Obama remembers it so fondly.
Er... no they didn't. They just were far more willing to take chances in order to beat the US to some goal only a matter of weeks or months before they knew the US would do the same thing. The entire 'missile gap' and technology gap were part of a propaganda campaign by the Soviets and abetted by the US Areo-Sapce industry looking for ever larger government contracts.