The space race

Sputnik was a little tin can that beeped. “The public feared that the Soviets’ ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S.,” NASA’s history archive says.

“Omid,” launched today by Iran, can do a little more. It’s a data processing and television transmission satellite, although concerns of dual-use technology and the potential for the combination rocket to be converted to carry a warhead will likely raise fears around the world,” an Indian news site says today.