One way October Sky relates to The Cold War is during The Cold War it was hard to find a good job that payed enough, so when Sonny told his dad that he didn't want to work in the mine that payed enough money, dad was furious. "I had really messed up this time. Dad was not only mad at me, I knew I'd hurt him too." (Hickam 203-204) Another way it relates to The Cold War is when the Soviets launched Sputnik it showed us that they had the power to deliver a nuclear weapon to the U.S. "The Russians had built atomic and hydrogen bombs, and they had jet bombers that could reach the United States." (Hickam 28)
Soviet satellite, Sputnik