The International Geophysical Year increased the general public’s interest in science, and improved support for education in science. This increased engagement led to greater investments in science programs, for example, in 1956 funding for the United States National Science Foundation funding more than doubled. This came from the organizers of the IGY realizing the importance of using science communication to relay the importance of these massive scientific projects to the public. Therefore, the IGY was widely covered in the press, on television, in books, and in classrooms. Those who lived through the time of the IGY knew exactly what it was. Interestingly enough, there was an adequate amount of research done by amateur scientists during the IGY, acting as a model for future citizen scientists that we see a lot of today (McCahey, 2025).

McCahey, D. (2025, August 2). Historiography of the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958). SpringerLink. https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-3-030-92679-3_30-1 

Space SPAN. (2021, April 9). The Restless Sphere, BBC, June 30, 1957. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqzS7HToH2E