The World Changed Forever
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Fifty-two years ago, the world changed forever in one instant.
On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched the first Earth satellite, Sputnik I. Its launch stunned the world and jump-started the “space race”.
Sputnik (literally means “traveler” or “companion”) was not visible from the Earth. People who thought they saw Sputnik actually saw the second stage booster rocket which followed Sputnik in its orbit.
The world stood transfixed as the first man-made object was launched into orbit.
Credit: NASA History Gallery
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Circling the Earth every 96- 98 minutes, Sputnik sent a “beep-beep” radio signal which was picked up by scientists and ham radio operators all over the Earth. Sputnik transmitted until October 26, 1957, when it went silent, having depleted its battery power. It re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere January 4, 1958, and was destroyed in the atmosphere.
The launch of Sputnik I was an amazing technical achievement. Its launch was answered in the United States by the launch of Explorer I in January, 1958, and the creation of NASA in October, 1958.
Here is an archive picture of Sputnik’s inner mechanism:
Credit: National Space Science Data Center (archival images)
The approximate size of a basketball, weighing only 83kg (182.6lbs), and carrying four “whip-like” antennae, Sputnik was equipped to test the density of the upper atmosphere and the propagation of radio signals in the ionosphere. Its downlink telemetry included information on the temperature both outside and inside the tiny craft.
Listen to Sputnik.
If you’re interested in reading more, this NASA link is good.
I stood on the front steps of my house in New Jersey in 1957 when I was 4 years old and saw Sputnik cross the sky with my dad and our next door neighbor. If it was the booster rocket, or the real Sputnik, it was the only satellite in existence at the time.
After that I was always a big fan of the NASA space program, I also had an uncle who worked at Cape Canaveral in Florida during the space shots.
It was a defining moment in the life of everyone who was alive at the time. Everybody remembers where they were when Sputnik made history.
What a great memory for you, to have seen something like that with your father. Did you ever get to Cape Canaveral to see a launch?
thanks, nece to remember those times and the start of the race for space. Now on to the moon again and then mars.
My dad was working on the X-15 at Edwards AFB in the desert at the time, and we all went out and saw it go over. A pearly glowing spot moving quickly across the sky. Quite a moment.
We didn’t feel anything but great that mankind had managed this, IIRC, no resentment against Soviet Union, but soon started asking why we weren’t doing stuff like this.
There followed a big science push in the schools. Learn German, the language of science when you get to high school! Study hard to get us into outer space too!
Then followed Kennedy, who managed to tap into this positive competitive spirit and we zoomed ahead. It was a nice time to be young in the US. So different from today.
I was there when this was launched. Oh the broadcasts that were going on at the time. Most people thought it had secret weapons that would now be aimed at different places on earth and “with a thought” could wipe that place away. There was so much speculation about the first place that would be hit. Even tho most of the world leaders “thought” this was for the good, some felt we should be getting ready to go to war. Some were insulted that our government had let Russia get there “first”. The most important thing to come out of all the talk, was it made the American people realize that exploration of space must be then and always of upmost concern no matter what the reasons were that started it and whom.
It certainly was a different time. How many people did you know who had shelters buried in their back yard? I remember playing in them as a child; nasty, musty things with lots of spiders!
[...] (Quelle, ein paar Hintergrundinfos noch bei der NASA) [...]
I wasn’t alive when Sputnik was launched, but was born just under two years later, before the close of the 1950′s. I grew up in a couple of small towns in South Carolina, and the space program was a big part of my life. I watched every launch I could, as a small boy, and eventually joined the Navy, and worked on fighter jets.
I’m 50 years old now, and I live in a small city in Florida, less than 100 miles from Cape Canaveral. My wife and I buy annual passes to Kennedy Space Center, and we go two to three times a year, and I love it, and feel like a kid again, each time.
All because of Sputnik…
Howard – What a great story! Sputnik impacted the entire world, it truly changed us all forever. You may not have been alive yet to see Sputnik, but I bet you remember Apollo 11; that was the next stunning moment in space exploration.
You, Sir, are a double hero for me: A person who loves astronomy, and a member of our armed forces. Thank you for helping make our world safe so space exploration could continue.
I was a sub-teenager living in Newfoundland at the time – the US dollar was worth less than the Canadian dollar, and my schoolmates let me know about it daily. When Sputnik went up, I had no peace for weeks.
Jim, did I delete a comment of yours by accident? If so my apologies.
I’m only 25, so this stuff remains history book material for me. However, I can remember my dad telling stories about the Space Race and how it managed to get lots and lots of people interested in Science. He said it was the sole reason he went into Physics for a career…that lonely metal basketball up in the sky. Powerful stuff.
Begun the space junk has
Space junk, Pete? No, not really. Both Sputnik I and it’s booster rocket returned to Earth; they aren’t still in orbit as trash. Sputnik was burned up on re-entry, and parts of the rocket booster were recovered.
Great Read, there is also a sputnik 2 made?
Thanks, Bev! Yes, there were several more in the Sputnik program… some successful, some not so much. I’ll link some information to you, and you can look over a summary of their program at your convenience. Well, as much as was published, anyway.