And the May 9th commemoration in Russia is so important because it reminds us of the extraordinary sacrifices that the then-Soviet Union made and the strength of the alliance between the U.S. and the Russian people.

WHITEHOUSE: Diplomatic Reception Room

The launch of Sputnik 1 generated fear across the US - and a quiet realisation that the country had fallen technologically behind the Soviet Union.

BBC: What if the Soviet Union had beaten the US to the Moon?

The change is being caused by the expiration of the HEU-LEU contract, signed in 1993 by Russia and the US. The treaty, which expires in 2013, allowed the duty-free export of Soviet uranium extracted from nuclear warheads.

FORBES: Forget Gold and Oil, Buy Uranium!

The ex-Soviet producer of beryllium, a plant called Ulba, was trying to export that metal to the US. The sole US producer (in any volume at least) was Brush Wellman.

FORBES: Three responses to Noahpinion