The year 1958 in science and technology included many events, some of which are included below.

Astronomy and space exploration

• January 4 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4, 1957)
• January 31 - The first successful American satellite, Explorer I, is launched into orbit.
• July 29 - The United States Congress formally creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Geology

• During the International Geophysical Year, Earth's magnetosphere is discovered.

Awards

• Nobel Prizes
  • Physics - Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, Ilya Mikhailovich Frank, Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm
  • Chemistry - Frederick Sanger
  • Medicine - George Wells Beadle, Edward Lawrie Tatum, Joshua Lederberg

Births

Deaths

• August 14 - Frédéric Joliot (b. 1900), scientist.
• December 12 - Milutin Milankovic (b. 1879), geophysicist.
• December 15 - Wolfgang Ernst Pauli (b. 1900), physicist.