Forty-five years ago, a shiny aluminum sphere made its way into Earth orbit, stunning Americans and changing history. This Earth-orbiting satellite, weighing a mere 184 pounds, was called Sputnik. .
It all began in 1952, when it was determined that the period from July 1, 1957 to December 31, 1958 would be one with high cycles of solar activity. With this knowledge, the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to deem this upcoming year the International Geophysical Year (IGY). In 1954, the council suggested that the U.S. launch satellites during the IGY. The next year, 1955, the White House took the councils advice and urged for government research agencies" proposals to assume responsibility in the development of satellite launches. In September of that same year, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was selected to represent the U.S. during the IGY.
The American public was caught off-guard on October 4, 1957 when Russia beat the United States to taking advantage of the IGY. Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite was launched. The size of Sputnik was much more impressive than the intended U.S. satellite, Vanguard. A downfall was in Sputniks radio transmitters, which were sending radio signals to Earth. These transmitters failed to perform after twenty-one days. Sputniks time in space was short lived as its orbit decayed and it burned up in the atmosphere ninety-two days after its launch. Nevertheless, this "one small ball in the air", as Eisenhower described it, had a powerful political and symbolic significance. This launch marked the beginnings of the space age, and the U.S. versus the U.S.S.R space race. New political, military, technological and scientific developments were brought to bear because of this launch. Sputnik also brought a fear to the United Sates. Americans thought that if the U.S.S.R had the capability to launch satellites, they might also have the ability to launch missiles with nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.
Then, on October 4,1957, the Russians launched Sputnik. Sputnik was the first man made object in space. ... After the initial shock of Sputnik blew over, the Americans got back on their feet rather quickly. ... Only one sized down test flight was made from December of 1956 till the Soviets launched Sputnik. After Sputnik was launched though, the government did put more money into the program. ...
The USSR had sent a satellite, "Sputnik", into orbit around Earth. ... Aboard Sputnik was a radio transmitter which allowed Soviet scientists to track it as it orbited the Earth. ... The success of Sputnik sent fear into the heart of America, as with it came the very real possibility of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile attack and mutually assured destruction. ...
In the year 1957, Sonny's life had begun to change with the launch of Sputnik, the first rocket in orbit by the Russians. ... Seeing Sputnik brought the world to Sonny's life and gave him hope that he could do something meaningful that would show his father there is more to life than Coalwood. ... In brief, Sputnik was the greatest inspiration for Sonny, which got him to work hard to go out of the little mining town, Coalwood, to discover the world. ... Without Sputnik, none of these events would have happened to Sonny and his friends. Basically we can say that Sputnik brought the da...
Wherner forecasted this five years before Sputnik was launched. ... During the Korean War there was little funding for von Braun's rockets until Sputnik was launched. ... On July 1st, 1957 the Soviets had successfully launched a sputnik the Russian name for satellite. ...
The "space race" started with the Sputnik satellite. ... History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union effectively propelled Sputnik I. ... While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.... The Soviet Union spent many years creating and planning for the Sputnik satellite to land on the moon. ...
The Beginnings of Satellites The United States lost the first battle of the space race when the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik I, the first earth orbiting satellite on October 4, 1957. ... The elliptical orbit of Sputnik around the Earth took only 98 minutes to complete. ... But, before the United States could launch its three and one-half pound Vanguard satellite, the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik I and Sputnik II. ...
Twelve years later Russia launched the first successful satellite, Sputnik 1. Sputnik consisted of a sphere the size of a basket, with four antennae transmitting various amounts of information. As news of Sputnik spread throughout the world, it shocked and astounded the world. ... After the great success of Sputnik I, Russia launched a series of other Sputniks. ... After numerous accomplishments, launching Sputniks and animals into space, it was no surprise Russia would place a man in space. ...
On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik, which was the world's first satellite to be placed into the Earth's orbit.1 Sputnik was also believed to be capable of launching nuclear missiles to the U.S. territory from the orbit. Quite obviously, the launching of Sputnik was quite a shock to the Americans since their supremacy of technology over Soviet Union was disgruntled. ...
