On October 4th, 1957, nearly 65 years ago, the Sputnik 1 was launched into space by the Soviet Union. This started the Space Age and helped the USSR leap into the lead during the during the Cold War during the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the USA. The Sputnik was a sphere made of an aluminum alloy and had 4 radio antennae. The Sputnik itself is actually quite small, it was about the size of a beach ball. It had a diameter of only 23 inches and weighed 184 pounds. Though, the Sputnik was originally meant to be much bigger than this. It would have many different instruments of science and weigh almost 3,000 pounds. They decided to precede it with a much simpler satellite because its development was taking longer than they estimated. This was called Object D.

The goal of the Sputnik 1:

The Sputnik 1 had multiple goals in mind when it was launched. One of their goals was to test orbital tracking that use radio and optical methods. They also wanted to try and figure out the density of the Earth’s atmosphere from how long the Sputnik lasted in orbit. Also, they wanted to see if it was possible to send a sort of artificial moon into orbit. Another one of their goals was to test the current principles of pressurization that they used on a satellite in orbit of Earth. They also wanted to see the effect on the Earth’s atmosphere if they sent radio waves throughout it.

RELATED STORIES:

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ussr-launches-sputnik/

https://www.britannica.com/technology/Sputnik

https://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-launch-of-sputnik-october-4-1957/

https://www.space.com/38331-sputnik-satellite-fun-facts.html

https://www.newscientist.com/definition/sputnik-1/

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https://www.nasa.gov/solve/index.html