Fifty years ago, on Friday, October 4, 1957, a 184-pound, silver-colored, metal ball caused an event that would change the world forever and reshape science education in the United States for decades to come. That beach ball-sized object was the man-made satellite launched by the Soviets known as Sputnik. Sputnik became the defining moment for science education in the second half of the twentieth century, and led directly to policy initiatives that bolstered our presence in science and technology and sparked an intellectual and technical rivalry between the two countries. In the decades since the Eagle landed at Tranquility Base, the United States has led the world in patents, the development of the internet, computer engineering, and other medical and technological advances. In order to remain globally competitive and to maintain a scientific superiority in the twenty-first century, we must produce better channels to achieve scientific literacy for all students, regardless of their economic status, the neighborhoods in which they live, or the shade of their skin.