50th Anniversary of Sputnik: Traveling Companion . ... Credit Copyright: Courtesy NSSDC , NASA Explanation: Sputnik means "traveling companion". Despite the innocuous sounding name, the launch of planet Earth's first artificial moon, Sputnik 1 , by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, changed the world and set in motion events which resulted in the creation of NASA and the race to the Moon. ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . NASA Official: Jay Norris. ...