About Sputnik IV Impact Site
On September 5, 1962, Manitowoc joined the space race in the least intentional way possible. A piece of a failed Soviet spacecraft fell from orbit and struck North 8th Street.
Sputnik IV had been launched by the Soviet Union in 1960 as an early test related to human spaceflight. The spacecraft failed to return as intended and remained in orbit until atmospheric reentry more than two years later.
Most of the vehicle burned apart, but a metal fragment approximately eight inches long survived all the way to Wisconsin. According to the City of Manitowoc, it struck the street around 4:30 in the morning and buried itself several inches into the pavement.
American authorities took possession of the fragment, studied it, and eventually returned it to the Soviet Union. A replica can be seen at the nearby Rahr-West Art Museum, while a marker embedded in North 8th Street identifies the impact location.
The site is wonderfully understated. There is no crater or dramatic monument. An ordinary piece of pavement marks the place where the Cold War space program literally dropped into a Wisconsin street.