The National Defense Education Act, which for the first time offered direct federal funding for higher education, was passed into law by Congress in 1957 in response to the Soviet launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik.
A satellite, often known as an artificial satellite, is a spacecraft that has been put into orbit on purpose. The majority of satellites feature a means of generating power for the electronics they carry, including solar cells or radioisotope thermoelectric generators.
Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth, was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, as part of the Sputnik program, with Sergei Korolev serving as the program's primary designer. Through monitoring the shift in its orbit, Sputnik 1 supplied information on the dispersion of radio signals in the ionosphere and assisted in determining the density of upper atmospheric layers. The unexpected news of Sputnik 1's accomplishment led to the Sputnik crisis in the US and the start of the Cold War's so-called Space Race.
Learn more about Satellites here:
https://brainly.com/question/28103637
#SPJ4