Sputnik

Mark Sputnik

During the most tense part of the Cold War the Soviet Union initiated a space program called Sputnik. A series of satellites called Sputnik were launched by the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1961. The first Sputnik satellite was launched on October 4, 1957. It was the first satellite made by man to circle the Earth. Sputnik 1 orbited Earth one time every 96 minutes at a speed of 18,000 mph.

Sputnik 1 was designed to study the density, temperature, and concentration of electrons in space and then send the information back to Earth. It weighed 184 pounds (82 kg) and had 4 antennas sticking out of it. Sputnik's elevation varied from about 140 to 560 miles high. The Sputnik 1 fell back to Earth on January 4 1958, but not before orbiting the Earth around 4,000 times. From November 1957 to March 1961 the Soviet Union kept launching bigger satellites into space. In that time period they launched a total of nine other satellites.

At the news of the Soviets launch of Sputnik 1 the U.S. reacted with panic. The American public was questioning how the U.S. could have fallen behind during the most critical part of the Cold War. The U.S. reacted by forming the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). Also the U.S. made teaching math and science a priority in schools around the U.S.

Sputnik 1's head designer was a Soviet man named Sergei Korolov. He designed not only the Sputnik 1, but he also designed another spacecraft named A-1. He was the lead spacecraft designer in all of the Soviet Union. Korolov was not known in America so we just called him the "Chief Designer'. He was sent to prison twice during the time of Joseph Stalin's rule. Once he was finally released out of prison he became the leading force in the Soviet's space program. The Sputnik 1 was the first object that anybody every sent successfully into space. Sputnik started what we now call the space race.

Sputnik 2 quickly followed with its launch on November 3, 1957, around a month after Sputnik 1 launched. Sputnik 2 was over 6 times larger than Sputnik 1. However, Sputnik was more famous for carrying the first dog into space. The dog Laika spent a week in space, until the oxygen in her compartment ran out. Laika's mission was successful. She did not have any side effects of being in anti- gravity. This enhanced the possibility of humans being able to travel and survive in space.

Sputnik 3 was designed to measure the pressure of the upper atmosphere. It also was able to detect what the upper atmosphere was made of. Sputnik 4 had a cabin for housing a cosmonaut (Soviet astronaut), and ejector seat, and a dummy human. 4 days after launching Sputnik 4 went off course and eventually disintegrated. When Sputnik 5 was launched its goal was to be launched into space and then successfully brought back down for a landing. Being slowed down by parachutes Sputnik 5 successfully completed its mission of landing back on Earth. Initially Sputnik 6 was supposed to be the last of the Sputnik satellites before the Soviets launched a human into space, but when it was re entering the Earths atmosphere its angle was too steep and it burned up. Sputnik 7 was intended to orbit around Venus then orbit back around Earth and then orbit back around Venus. However this mission was unsuccessful because the Soviets could not send it back towards Venus. Sputnik 8 was successfully sent to Venus for the second time, but then its communications were lost and there was no more contact with the satellite. Sputnik 9 and 10 were both designed to do the same missions as Sputniks 7 and 8. However, Sputnik 9 and 10 both completed the missions that they were intended to carry out.

The Sputnik satellites were important to the world because they started the space race. These satellites also opened up a new domain for humans to explore. These satellites provided valuable information leading into sending the first humans into space. The Soviets now only had one more thing to accomplish, sending the first human into space.

This is the satellite named Sputnik


http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image/sputnik_asm.jpg

=This is a Spud named Nick = __ad.com/bleef/hello_my_name_is.JPG http://www.thegardenhelper.com/__==Lewis, Cathleen S. "Sputnik." World Book Online Reference Center. 2007. Highland Middle School. February 5, 2007. <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar527080>.]

"Sputnik." UXL Science. Online ed. Detroit: UXL, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Thomson Gale. Cook Memorial Public Library. 5 Feb. 2007 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=SRC

Clark, Phillip //The Soviet Manned Space Program// New York, New York; Orion Books, 1988