#OTD, the Space Age officially began: the world’s first artificial satellite – Sputnik 1 – entered Earth’s orbit.
At 10:28 pm Moscow time, an R-7 launch vehicle, developed under the leadership of the outstanding Soviet rocket engineer Sergey Korolev, lifted off from the Tyuratam launch site (later named Baikonur). Just over five minutes later, the satellite separated from the rocket and transmitted its world-famous signals: “Beep! Beep!”
📰 On October 5, 1957, Soviet newspaper Pravda reported:
On October 4, 1957, the USSR successfully launched the first satellite.
The satellite is currently following an elliptical orbit around Earth, and its flight can be observed in the light of the rising and setting Sun using the simplest optical instruments.
Updates on the movement of the first artificial satellite, launched in the USSR on October 4, will be broadcast regularly by radio stations.
🛰 An aluminium sphere 58 centimetres (~23 inches) in diameter, weighing 83.6 kilograms (~184 pounds), with four antennas and two radio transmitters – this was humanity’s first envoy in orbit. Behind its simple exterior lay the immense efforts of Soviet scientists, engineers and workers.
Sputnik completed an orbit around Earth roughly every 96 minutes, and radio enthusiasts worldwide picked up its famous signals.
Its radio transmitters operated for about three weeks, while the satellite itself remained in orbit for 92 days. During that time, it completed 1,440 orbits around Earth, travelling some 60 million kilometres (~ 37.3 million miles). Its flight ended on January 4, 1958, when it entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and burned up.
The historic launch validated the calculations and technical solutions needed to reach space. Observations of the satellite gave scientists new data on the density of the upper atmosphere and the propagation of radio waves through the ionosphere.
🌐 Sputnik 1 was a triumph of Soviet science and engineering – an achievement for all humanity. It proved that the path beyond Earth was open – paving the way for Yuri Gagarin’s flight, the exploration of the Moon and other planets, and the construction of orbital stations.
For 6️⃣9️⃣ years, satellites have served humanity. Today, they are essential to everyday life: they provide communications and television broadcasting, help us navigate, forecast the weather and monitor climate change.
☝️ But the first was ours. Forever. #Sputnik1