PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — On Oct. 4, 1957, my father, Nikita Khrushchev, awaited a telephone call. Chief Designer Sergei Korolev was expected to call from the Tyuratam launch site (later renamed Baikonur Cosmodrome) in Kazakhstan to report on the launch of the world's first man-made satellite.
Earlier that day, my father was in Kyiv, Ukraine, on military business. He attended a demonstration of tanks crossing the Dnepr River, then discussed with Soviet generals the fate of Defense Minister Marshal Georgy Zhukov. (The World War II hero was suspected of plotting to seize power, and before forcing him to resign, my father and his colleagues enlisted the support of other high-ranking generals.)
That evening, my father dined with the Ukrainian leaders. I sat at the end of the table, not paying attention to their conversation. Everybody was tired, but my father wasn't in a hurry to sleep. Around midnight, the door opened and the secretary asked my father to take a phone call. When Khrushchev came back, he was smiling: Sputnik's launch was successful.