Sputnik program
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Sputnik 1 |
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USSR postage stamp depicting Sputnik 1 |
The
Sputnik program was a series of
unmanned space missions launched by the
Soviet Union in the late
1950s to demonstrate the viability of
artificial satellites.The name "Sputnik" ("Спутник") comes from
Russian, where it means "fellow traveler", and also "satellite". The Russian
pronunciation is , but the usual pronunciation in
English is .
Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite[
1], was launched on
October 4,
1957.
Sputnik 2 was launched on
November 3,
1957 and carried the first living passenger, a
dog named
Laika.The mission planners did not provide for the safe return of the
spacecraft or its
passenger, making Laika the first space
casualty.
The first attempt to launch
Sputnik 3, on
February 3,
1958, failed, but the second on
May 15 succeeded, and it carried a large array of instruments for
geophysical research.Its
tape recorder failed, however, making it unable to measure the
Van Allen radiation belts.
Sputnik 4 was launched two years later, on
May 15,
1960.
Sputnik 5 was launched on
August 19,
1960 with the dogs
Belka and Strelka, 40
mice, 2
rats and a variety of
plants on board. The spacecraft returned to earth the next day and all animals were recovered safely.
All Sputniks were carried to
orbit by the
R-7 launch vehicle, originally designed to carry
nuclear warheads.
The surprise launch of Sputnik 1, coupled with the spectacular failure of the first two
Project Vanguard launch attempts, shocked the
United States, which responded with a number of early satellite launches, including
Explorer I,
Project SCORE,
Advanced Research Projects Agency and
Courier 1B. Sputnik also led to the creation of
NASA and major increases in U.S. Government spending on scientific research and education.
See: Sputnik crisis.
The launch of Sputnik 1 inspired writer
Herb Caen to coin the term
"beatnik" in an article about the
Beat Generation in the
San Francisco Chronicle on
April 2,
1958.
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This metal arming key is the last remaining piece of the first Sputnik satellite. It prevented contact between the batteries and the transmitter prior to launch. Currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum. |
Sputnik 40 (Object 24958/97058C) was a 1/3 scale model
amateur radio AMSAT satellite launched from the
Mir space station on
3 November 1997 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Sputnik 1. Its appearance resembled Sputnik I. Its batteries expired on
29 December 1997 and the VHF transmitter fell silent.
Sputnik 41 was launched a year later, on
10 November 1998. It also carried an amateur radio transmitter.
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Sergei Korolev - chief designer of Sputnik
*
Donald B. Gillies - one of the first to calculate the
Sputnik I orbit.
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1958 Video Newsreel of Russian Exhibition of Sputnik III
