1957 : Sputnik launched
The Soviet Union inaugurates the "Space Age" with its launch of
Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named
Sputnik after the Russian word for "satellite," was launched at 10:29
p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic.
Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds and circled
Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Traveling at 18,000 miles an
hour, its elliptical orbit had an apogee (farthest point from Earth)
of 584 miles and a perigee (nearest point) of 143 miles. Visible with
binoculars before sunrise or after sunset, Sputnik transmitted radio
signals back to Earth strong enough to be picked up by amateur radio
operators. Those in the United States with access to such equipment
tuned in and listened in awe as the beeping Soviet spacecraft passed
over America several times a day. In January 1958, Sputnik's orbit
deteriorated, as expected, and the spacecraft burned up in the
atmosphere.
Officially, Sputnik was launched to correspond with the International
Geophysical Year, a solar period that the International Council of
Scientific Unions declared would be ideal for the launching of
artificial satellites to study Earth and the solar system. However,
many Americans feared more sinister uses of the Soviets' new rocket
and satellite technology, which was apparently strides ahead of the
U.S. space effort. Sputnik was some 10 times the size of the first
planned U.S. satellite, which was not scheduled to be launched until
the next year. The U.S. government, military, and scientific community
were caught off guard by the Soviet technological achievement, and
their united efforts to catch up with the Soviets heralded the
beginning of the "space race."
The first U.S. satellite, Explorer, was launched on January 31, 1958.
By then, the Soviets had already achieved another ideological victory
when they launched a dog into orbit aboard Sputnik 2. The Soviet space
program went on to achieve a series of other space firsts in the late
1950s and early 1960s: first man in space, first woman, first three
men, first space walk, first spacecraft to impact the moon, first to
orbit the moon, first to impact Venus, and first craft to soft-land on
the moon. However, the United States took a giant leap ahead in the
space race in the late '60s with the Apollo lunar-landing program,
which successfully landed two Apollo 11 astronauts on the surface of
the moon in July 1969.
history.com/tdih.do
1777 : The Battle of Germantown
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5398
1965 : Pope visits U.S.
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5399
1993 : White House siege ends in Moscow
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5400
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The Soviet Union inaugurates the "Space Age" with its launch of
Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named
Sputnik after the Russian word for "satellite," was launched at 10:29
p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic.
Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds and circled
Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Traveling at 18,000 miles an
hour, its elliptical orbit had an apogee (farthest point from Earth)
of 584 miles and a perigee (nearest point) of 143 miles. Visible with
binoculars before sunrise or after sunset, Sputnik transmitted radio
signals back to Earth strong enough to be picked up by amateur radio
operators. Those in the United States with access to such equipment
tuned in and listened in awe as the beeping Soviet spacecraft passed
over America several times a day. In January 1958, Sputnik's orbit
deteriorated, as expected, and the spacecraft burned up in the
atmosphere.
Officially, Sputnik was launched to correspond with the International
Geophysical Year, a solar period that the International Council of
Scientific Unions declared would be ideal for the launching of
artificial satellites to study Earth and the solar system. However,
many Americans feared more sinister uses of the Soviets' new rocket
and satellite technology, which was apparently strides ahead of the
U.S. space effort. Sputnik was some 10 times the size of the first
planned U.S. satellite, which was not scheduled to be launched until
the next year. The U.S. government, military, and scientific community
were caught off guard by the Soviet technological achievement, and
their united efforts to catch up with the Soviets heralded the
beginning of the "space race."
The first U.S. satellite, Explorer, was launched on January 31, 1958.
By then, the Soviets had already achieved another ideological victory
when they launched a dog into orbit aboard Sputnik 2. The Soviet space
program went on to achieve a series of other space firsts in the late
1950s and early 1960s: first man in space, first woman, first three
men, first space walk, first spacecraft to impact the moon, first to
orbit the moon, first to impact Venus, and first craft to soft-land on
the moon. However, the United States took a giant leap ahead in the
space race in the late '60s with the Apollo lunar-landing program,
which successfully landed two Apollo 11 astronauts on the surface of
the moon in July 1969.
history.com/tdih.do
1777 : The Battle of Germantown
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5398
1965 : Pope visits U.S.
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5399
1993 : White House siege ends in Moscow
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5400
#########################################
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