Its tiny beep signaled the dawn of the space age and changed the world as Sputnik circled the Earth in a scientific triumph for the Soviet Union...

Now a resurgent Russia, flush with cash from booming energy prices, is determined to reclaim the lead in space as it marks Sputnik’s 50th anniversary. It has announced plans to send men to the Moon by 2025 and plans to land a probe on Mars in a joint project with China in 2009. ...    more »