Sputnik 1
-Maadeha Hassan
Sputnik 1
On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Earth’s first artificial satellite called Sputnik 1. It was about the size of a basketball, weighed only 183 pounds and completed one orbit around the earth in 98 minutes. It was launched in Tyuratam, Kazakh Republic, now Kazakhstan. Sputnik was launched being carried in the rocket named R-7. After launch, this rocket was easily visible from the ground. This satellite, which was designed to reveal information about the density of the upper atmosphere, and to get ahead of America in the Space Race, transmitted signals to Earth for 21 days, when its batteries ran out and it burned up in the Earth's atmosphere on January 4, 1958, after travelling 70 million kilometers. Sputnik still stayed in orbit for 90 days. This satellite marked the space age and the space race between the U.S and the Soviet Union, a part of the Cold War*.
(*The Cold War was a sustained state of political and military tension between powers in the U.S and the Soviet Union)
The purpose of Sputnik 1’s creation:
The main reason why sputnik 1 was created was to show the Americans that Russia had won the space race. At first, Russians had created a model that would later be launched as Sputnik 3, but at that time, it was unsuccessful. Then later, it was suggested to make a simpler satellite and thus, Sputnik 1 was designed. Being the first country to launch a satellite, U.S.S.R declared its excellence and America’s reactions were tangled. The launch of sputnik sent a shockwave through the American public. Though for Russians sputnik was a great job, Americans kept wondering how they had made it to the space first.
The scientific purposes were to find out more about the density of the atmosphere, its ion composition, magnetic fields and cosmic rays. The launch of Sputnik was also significant in helping engineers and scientists collect information for creating satellites in the future.
Idea and Design:
The idea of an artificial satellite orbiting Earth was suggested by three Russians; Sergei Korolev, Igor Kurchatov and Mstilav Keldysh. In March 1954, these three proposed to the soviet government that a satellite be launched before the start of the International Geophysical year and specifically before the Americans launched one.
The construction began and Sputnik’s project was given the name PS-1. It was designed to look like a sphere with 4 antennas attached at an angle of 70 degrees. Inside the sphere were two 1 watt radio transmitters and three silver-zinc batteries which powered the radio. The two hemispheres were made out of aluminum and were attached by 36 bolts. One of the hemispheres was covered by a 1 mm thick thermal shield providing a strong insulating double layer. The other half was anodized* to remain cool in space. The inside was filled with dry nitrogen gas at a pressure of 1.4 atmospheres. If the internal pressure rose above 30 degrees, the fan would start circulating the air around the cooler outer shell, turning off when the temperature dropped below 23 degrees.
(*Anodized: coat (a metal, especially aluminium) with a protective oxide layer by.)
Sputnik was programmed to provide an orbit with the following parameters: perigee* height- 233 km, apogee* height- 1,450 km, orbital period- 101.5 minutes. After the launch, the satellite was tracked and the decay of its orbit provided new knowledge about the density effects of the extreme outer atmosphere. In fact, the spherical shape of the satellite had been designed to permit an easy theoretical analysis of the drag. While constructing Sputnik 1, the scientists were interested in the problem of overheating or damage from micrometeorites and space and so of the internal pressure dropped below 0.35 atm (an international reference used as a unit of pressure) the radio transmitter would change to a pattern of 0.2 frequencies. But, after the launch, there was no change in the frequency and thus it was determined that there will be no problems caused by micrometeorites in the future too. Sputnik itself provided scientists with valuable information. The density of the upper atmosphere could be deduced from its drag on the orbit, and the propagation of its radio signals gave information about the ionosphere.
(Perigee: the point in the orbit of a satellite at which it is nearest to the earth.)
(Apogee: the point in the orbit of a satellite at which it is furthest from the earth.)
Birth of NASA:
As mentioned in the first paragraph, the launch of sputnik 1 was also significant in the Cold War. Not only did sputnik’s launch arise more tensions among Americans and Russians but is also became the reason why NASA was formed. The Americans were surprised and defeated by the Russians. They did balance the scale by the launch of Explorer 1 but it wasn’t enough in some people’s opinion. A turning point came on 4 February 1958 when John M. McClellan asked his science advisor, James R. Killian, to convene the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) to come up with a plan for a new space flight organization. Quietly considering the creation of a new civil space agency for several months, PSAC worked with staff members from Congress and quickly came forward with a proposal that placed all non-military efforts relative to space exploration under a strengthened and renamed National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The new organization started functioning on 1 October 1958, less than a year after the launch of Sputnik 1. Its first task was the development of a human space exploration program. NASA has continued to direct the human space exploration initiatives of the United States ever since. We can count it as something earned by the launch of Sputnik.
On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Earth’s first artificial satellite called Sputnik 1. It was about the size of a basketball, weighed only 183 pounds and completed one orbit around the earth in 98 minutes. It was launched in Tyuratam, Kazakh Republic, now Kazakhstan. Sputnik was launched being carried in the rocket named R-7. After launch, this rocket was easily visible from the ground. This satellite, which was designed to reveal information about the density of the upper atmosphere, and to get ahead of America in the Space Race, transmitted signals to Earth for 21 days, when its batteries ran out and it burned up in the Earth's atmosphere on January 4, 1958, after travelling 70 million kilometers. Sputnik still stayed in orbit for 90 days. This satellite marked the space age and the space race between the U.S and the Soviet Union, a part of the Cold War*.
(*The Cold War was a sustained state of political and military tension between powers in the U.S and the Soviet Union)
The purpose of Sputnik 1’s creation:
The main reason why sputnik 1 was created was to show the Americans that Russia had won the space race. At first, Russians had created a model that would later be launched as Sputnik 3, but at that time, it was unsuccessful. Then later, it was suggested to make a simpler satellite and thus, Sputnik 1 was designed. Being the first country to launch a satellite, U.S.S.R declared its excellence and America’s reactions were tangled. The launch of sputnik sent a shockwave through the American public. Though for Russians sputnik was a great job, Americans kept wondering how they had made it to the space first.
The scientific purposes were to find out more about the density of the atmosphere, its ion composition, magnetic fields and cosmic rays. The launch of Sputnik was also significant in helping engineers and scientists collect information for creating satellites in the future.
Idea and Design:
The idea of an artificial satellite orbiting Earth was suggested by three Russians; Sergei Korolev, Igor Kurchatov and Mstilav Keldysh. In March 1954, these three proposed to the soviet government that a satellite be launched before the start of the International Geophysical year and specifically before the Americans launched one.
The construction began and Sputnik’s project was given the name PS-1. It was designed to look like a sphere with 4 antennas attached at an angle of 70 degrees. Inside the sphere were two 1 watt radio transmitters and three silver-zinc batteries which powered the radio. The two hemispheres were made out of aluminum and were attached by 36 bolts. One of the hemispheres was covered by a 1 mm thick thermal shield providing a strong insulating double layer. The other half was anodized* to remain cool in space. The inside was filled with dry nitrogen gas at a pressure of 1.4 atmospheres. If the internal pressure rose above 30 degrees, the fan would start circulating the air around the cooler outer shell, turning off when the temperature dropped below 23 degrees.
(*Anodized: coat (a metal, especially aluminium) with a protective oxide layer by.)
Sputnik was programmed to provide an orbit with the following parameters: perigee* height- 233 km, apogee* height- 1,450 km, orbital period- 101.5 minutes. After the launch, the satellite was tracked and the decay of its orbit provided new knowledge about the density effects of the extreme outer atmosphere. In fact, the spherical shape of the satellite had been designed to permit an easy theoretical analysis of the drag. While constructing Sputnik 1, the scientists were interested in the problem of overheating or damage from micrometeorites and space and so of the internal pressure dropped below 0.35 atm (an international reference used as a unit of pressure) the radio transmitter would change to a pattern of 0.2 frequencies. But, after the launch, there was no change in the frequency and thus it was determined that there will be no problems caused by micrometeorites in the future too. Sputnik itself provided scientists with valuable information. The density of the upper atmosphere could be deduced from its drag on the orbit, and the propagation of its radio signals gave information about the ionosphere.
(Perigee: the point in the orbit of a satellite at which it is nearest to the earth.)
(Apogee: the point in the orbit of a satellite at which it is furthest from the earth.)
Birth of NASA:
As mentioned in the first paragraph, the launch of sputnik 1 was also significant in the Cold War. Not only did sputnik’s launch arise more tensions among Americans and Russians but is also became the reason why NASA was formed. The Americans were surprised and defeated by the Russians. They did balance the scale by the launch of Explorer 1 but it wasn’t enough in some people’s opinion. A turning point came on 4 February 1958 when John M. McClellan asked his science advisor, James R. Killian, to convene the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) to come up with a plan for a new space flight organization. Quietly considering the creation of a new civil space agency for several months, PSAC worked with staff members from Congress and quickly came forward with a proposal that placed all non-military efforts relative to space exploration under a strengthened and renamed National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The new organization started functioning on 1 October 1958, less than a year after the launch of Sputnik 1. Its first task was the development of a human space exploration program. NASA has continued to direct the human space exploration initiatives of the United States ever since. We can count it as something earned by the launch of Sputnik.
References:
Title: Sputnik: The Space Races’ opening shot
Author: Elizabeth Howell
Last edited: September 12, 2012
URL: http://www.space.com/17563-sputnik.html
Title: Mission to the Planets: Sputnik
Author: Unknown
Last edited: Unknown
URL:http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/Exhibits/AirAndSpace/MissionToThePlanets/Sputnik/Sputnik.php
Title: It all started with Sputnik
Author: Roger D. Launius
Last edited: July 2007
URL: http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Sputnik-Essay.html
Title: Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age
Author: Roger D. Launius
Last edited: Unknown
URL: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/sputorig.html
Title: Sputnik and the Dawn of the Space Age
Author: Unknown
Last edited: Unknown
URL: http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/
Title: Sputnik: How the World's 1st Artificial Satellite Worked (Infographic) Author: Karl Tate
Last edited: October 3rd, 2012
URL: http://www.space.com/17888-first-satellite-sputnik-1-explained-infographic.html
Title: What’s the historical significance of Sputnik 1?
Author: Unknown
Last edited: Unknown
URL: http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/historical-significance-sputnik-i
Author: Elizabeth Howell
Last edited: September 12, 2012
URL: http://www.space.com/17563-sputnik.html
Title: Mission to the Planets: Sputnik
Author: Unknown
Last edited: Unknown
URL:http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/Exhibits/AirAndSpace/MissionToThePlanets/Sputnik/Sputnik.php
Title: It all started with Sputnik
Author: Roger D. Launius
Last edited: July 2007
URL: http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Sputnik-Essay.html
Title: Sputnik and the Origins of the Space Age
Author: Roger D. Launius
Last edited: Unknown
URL: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/sputorig.html
Title: Sputnik and the Dawn of the Space Age
Author: Unknown
Last edited: Unknown
URL: http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/
Title: Sputnik: How the World's 1st Artificial Satellite Worked (Infographic) Author: Karl Tate
Last edited: October 3rd, 2012
URL: http://www.space.com/17888-first-satellite-sputnik-1-explained-infographic.html
Title: What’s the historical significance of Sputnik 1?
Author: Unknown
Last edited: Unknown
URL: http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/historical-significance-sputnik-i