Sputnik program
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. It included Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit earth. The Russian name "Спутник" means literally "traveling companion" or "satellite". The R-7 launch vehicle was believed to have been originally designed to carry nuclear warheads.
Impact
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.[citation needed]
Early flights
Sputnik 1 was launched on October 4, 1957. The satellite was 58 cm in diameter and weighed approximately 83.6 kg (about 184 lb). Each of its elliptical orbits around the Earth took about 96 minutes.
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.
Other Sputnik designations
A variety of Venera, Vostok, Voskhod, Kosmos and other classes of Soviet spacecraft were referred to as Sputniks by American observers, although none of these were actually named "Sputnik" by the Soviet Union. Sputnik 25, for example, was an attempted Luna probe
Sputnik 40 and Sputnik 41
Sputnik 40, also called Sputnik PS2, Radio Sputnik 17 (RS-17) and Mini-Sputnik, was a ⅓-scale model amateur radio satellite launched from the Mir space station on 3 November 1997 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Sputnik 1. The spacecraft body resembled Sputnik 1 and was built by students at the Polytechnic Laboratory of Nalchik in Kabardino-Balkaria. The transmitter was built by students from Jules Reydellet College in Réunion, with technical support from AMSAT-France. Its batteries expired on 29 December 1997 and the VHF transmitter fell silent.[1][2][3] Its international designator is 1997-058C, United States Space Command object 24958.[4]
Sputnik 41 (RS-18, designator 1998-62C, object 25533[5]) was launched a year later, on 10 November 1998. It also carried a transmitter.
List of Sputnik satellites
References
- ^ "Sputnik: First Artificial Satellite". Retrieved 18 December 2006.
- ^ "Tiny Beeping Model Tossed From Station". Space Today Online. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
- ^ "Radio Sputnik 17". AMSAT. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
- ^ "SPACEWARN Activities, SPX-529". NASA. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
- ^ "SPACEWARN Activities, SPX-543". NASA. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
See also
- Soviet space program
- Sergei Korolev: chief designer of Sputnik
- Donald B. Gillies: one of the first to calculate the Sputnik I orbit.
- Dickson, Paul, Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, Walker & Company (June 26, 2007), ISBN 978-0802713650
External links
