Here's a question you've probably never bothered to think about before.

What is the oldest man-made object still orbiting the Earth?

Which, if any, of the really early satellites are still whizzing around up in space?

It turns out, the fourth satellite ever... are still there

whizzing around up in space. It turns out the fourth satellite ever put in orbit

is still there 62 years after it was launched. Learn more about Vanguard 1,

the world's oldest satellite on this episode of sponsored by audible.com. If you're interested in the early space program,

the audiobook I would recommend is American

Moonshot, John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race by Douglas Brinkley.

Drawing a new primary source material and major interviews with many of the surviving figures who are key to America's success.

Brinkley brings this fascinating history to life as never before.

American Moonshot is a portrait of the brilliant men and women who made this giantly possible, the technology

that enabled us to propel men beyond Earth's orbit to the Moon and return them safely,

and the geopolitical tensions that spurred Kennedy to commit himself to fulfill this audacious dream.

You can get a free one-month trial to Audible and two free audio books by going to Audible

Trial.com slash Everything Everywhere or by clicking on the link in the show notes.

In the

In the 1950s, the United States was riding high.

They had won World War II, their economy is strong,

unemployment was low, and they had this new-fangled thing called television.

Then on October 4, 1957, everything changed. People woke up to discover that the Russians had

put an artificial satellite named Sputnik into orbit. It was a national punch to the gut.

...