Sputnik led to many things. First off, Americans got pretty freaked out when the Soviets were able to lauch an artificial satellite into space, and it made Americans fearful that if the Soviets could launch something into space, then they could launch nuclear missiles to anywhere in the world. Second, it started the Space race and NASA was created. In addition, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act, which is pretty much the reason why the education system encourages students to take more math and science classes and well as foreign languages.