 The Soviet Sputnik satellite was the first to orbit Earth, launched on October 4, 1957. Personal Reflection: Sputnik, October 4, 1957 Sputnik's transmissions died along with its battery after only three weeks, but its effects have been felt for decades. As a fifth-grader, I witnessed the stir caused by the launch of Sputnik. News reports showed that many people in the United States were embarrassed to see the Soviet Union achieving a scientific first, as well as frightened that a foreign country had placed something overhead (read these Sputnik stories). Soviet rocket development seemed well ahead of the United States' efforts. The push toward getting an American satellite into space started immediately. American schools and universities were soon stocked with new science books. One side effect that had a direct impact on many students like me was an increase in science homework, giving a personal dimension to the national wake-up call. |
Because of Soviet government secrecy at the time, no photographs were taken of this famous launch. Sputnik was a 23-inch (58-cm), 184-pound (83-kg) metal ball. Although it was a remarkable achievement, Sputnik's contents seem meager by today's standards:
- Thermometer
- Battery
- Radio transmitter - changed the tone of its beeps to match temperature changes
- Nitrogen gas - pressurized the interior of the satellite
On the outside of Sputnik, four whip antennas transmitted on short-wave frequencies above and below what is today's Citizens Band (27 MHz). According to the Space Satellite Handbook, by Anthony R. Curtis:
After 92 days, gravity took over and Sputnik burned in Earth's atmosphere. Thirty days after the Sputnik launch, the dog Laika orbited in a half-ton Sputnik satellite with an air supply for the dog. It burned in the atmosphere in April 1958.
Sputnik is a good example of just how simple a satellite can be. As we will see later, today's satellites are generally far more complicated, but the basic idea is a straightforward one.
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