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". . .On October 4, 1957 Sputnik I shot into orbit and forcibly opened the Space Age." - NASA, "This New Ocean"^[1]The Sputnik program (Russian: Спутник, Russian pronunciation: [ˈsputnʲɪk] (ˈspootnik), which is translated as 'companion' or 'satellite') is the commonly known name of a group of various robotic spacecraft missions launched by the Soviet Union. The first of these, Sputnik 1, launched the first human-made object to orbit the Earth. That launch took place on October 4, 1957 as part of the International Geophysical Year and demonstrated the viability of using artificial satellites to explore the upper atmosphere.

The Russian word sputnik literally means "co-traveler," "traveling companion," or "satellite."^{[note 1]} The satellite's R-7 launch vehicle was designed initially to carry nuclear warheads. The R-7 was also known by it's GURVO designation 8K71.^[2]

Early flights

USSR postage stamp depicting Sputnik 1. The caption reads: The world's first Soviet artificial satellite of the Earth

Sputnik 1 launched on October 4, 1957. The satellite was 58 cm (about 23 in) in diameter and weighed approximately 83.6 kg (about 183 lb). Each of its 1440 elliptical orbits around the Earth took about 96 minutes. The OKB-1 (the official designation for Korolev's design bureau) called the object was ""Prosteyshiy Sputnik-1" means "Simple Satellite 1," and was commonly referred to as "PS-1."^[3] Monitoring of the satellite, which carried a battery-powered transmitter, was done by many amateur radio operators and the satellite was tracked by the Jodrell Bank Observatory using a 36 Mc/s transmitter.^[4] Sputnik's R-7 booster had previously proven itself more than one month earlier as the world's first ICBM in the successful long-range test flight of August 21 (with the accomplishment published in Aviation Week). Korolev was able to convince the State Commission for the R-7 ICBM to allow the use of the next R-7 to launch a hastily designed and built satellite.^[5] Sputnik 1 was not visible from the Earth but the casing of the R-7 booster, traveling behind it, was visible. The R-7 modified for satellite launching was designated 8k71PS.^[6]

Shortly after the launch of PS-1, Krushchev pressed Korolev to launch another satellite in time for the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution on 7 November 1957.^[7]

Sputnik 2, known to OKB-1 as "PS-2" was launched on November 3, 1957. The hastily constructed PS-2 carried the first living passenger into orbit.^[8] The female dog named Curly or sometimes Little Curly but popularly known as Laika (little barker )was selected from ten candidates at the Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine, for it's even temperament.^[9] The mission planners did not provide for the safe atmospheric re-entry of the spacecraft or its passenger due to time constraints and the lack of suitable technology, making Laika the first orbital spaceflight casualty.^[10]

The first attempt to launch Sputnik 3, on April 27, 1958,^[11] failed, but the second on May 15 succeeded, and it carried a large array of instruments for geophysical research. Its tape recorder failed, making it unable to measure the Van Allen radiation belts. Sputnik 3, was a development of OKB-1s original "Object D" satellite design.^[12] Design of Object D was begun in January 1956 with intent to launch it during the International Geophysical Year.^[13] Object D was the third satellite launched by the Soviet Union due to delays in developing the extensive scientific experiments and their telemetry system.^[14] Like it's American counterpart, Vanguard, Object D had succeeded in making it into orbit during the IGY.^[15]

Impact

United States President Eisenhower was not surprised by Sputnik, having been forewarned of the R-7s capabilities by information derived from U2 spy plane overflight photos as well as signals and telemetry intercepts.^[16]^[17] The Eisenhower administrations first response was low-key and almost dismissive.^[18] Eisenhower was even pleased that the USSR, not the USA, would be the first to test the waters of the still-uncertain legal status of orbital satellite overflights.^[19] Eisienhower had suffered the Soviet protests and shoot-downs of Project Genetrix (Moby Dick) balloons^[20]and was concerned about the probability of a U-2 being shot down.^[21] In order to set a precedent for 'freedom of space" before the launch of America's secret WS-117L Spy Satellites^[22] the USA had launched Project Vanguard as it's own "civilian" satellite entry for the International Geophysical Year.^[23] Eisenhower greatly underestimated the reaction of the American public, which was shocked by the launch of Sputnik 1 and by the televised failure of the Vanguard Test Vehicle 3 launch attempt. The sense of fear was inflamed by democrat politicians and professional cold warriors which portrayed the United States as woefully behind^[24]. The USA soon had a number of successful satellites, including Explorer 1, Project SCORE, and Courier 1B. However, public reaction to the Sputnik crisis led to the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (renamed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1972 or DARPA): NASA,^[25] and an increase in U.S. government spending on scientific research and education. One consequence of the Sputnik shock was the perception of a "Missile Gap."^[26] This was to become a dominant issue in the 1960 Presidential campaign.

One irony of the 'Sputnik' event was the initially low-key response of the Soviet Union. The Communist Party newspaper Pravda only printed a few paragraphs about 'Sputnik 1' on 4 October.^[27] In the days following the world's startled response the Soviets started celebrating it's 'great accomplishment."

Sputnik also inspired a generation of engineers and scientists. Homer Hickam's memoir Rocket Boys and the movie October Sky tell the story of how a coal miner's son, inspired by Sputnik, started building rockets to the consternation of the mining town where he lived.

The launch of Sputnik 1 inspired U.S. writer Herb Caen to coin the term "beatnik" in an article about the Beat Generation in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 2, 1958.^[28]

Three one-third scale student-built replicas of Sputnik 1 were deployed from the Mir space station between 1997 and 1999. The first, named Sputnik 40 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, was deployed in November 1997. Sputnik 41 was launched a year later, and Sputnik 99 was deployed in February 1999. A fourth replica was launched but never deployed, and was destroyed when Mir was deorbited.^[29]

Footnotes

^ Swenson, L, Jr, Grimwood, J. M. Alexander, C.C. This New Ocean, A History of Project Mercury, Washington D.C.. National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration, 1966, p. 71. Library of Congress Card No. 66-62424
^ Zaloga, Stephen J.. The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword, Washington. The Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002, p. 232. ISBN 1-58834-007-4
^ Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 155. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X
^ Lovell, Sir Bernard, "The Story of Jodrell Bank," New York, Harper & Row, Publishers, 1968, p. 196, Library of Congress Card No. 68-17043
^ Harford, James.. Korolev how one man masterminded the Soviet drive to beat America to the Moon, New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997, p. 127. ISBN 0-471-14853-9
^ Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 163. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X
^ Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 172. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X
^ Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 172. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X
^ Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 173. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X
^ Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 173. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X
^ "Sputnik 3". Retrieved 2010-05-26.
^ Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 176. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X
^ Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 149. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X
^ Harford, James.. Korolev how one man masterminded the Soviet drive to beat America to the Moon, New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997, p. 126. ISBN 0-471-14853-9
^ Green, Constance McLaughlin, and Lomax, Milton.. Vanguard a History, Washington D.C., National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1970, p. 219. NASA SP-4202
^ Lashmar, Paul.. Spy Flights of the Cold War, Annapolis, Maryland, United States Naval Institute Press, 1996, p. 146. ISBN 1-557550-837-2
^ Peebles, Curtis. Shadow Flights America's Secret Air War against the Soviet Union, Novato, California. The Presideo Press, Inc., 2000, p. 168. ISBN 0-89141-700-1
^ Divine, Robert A. The Sputnik Challenge Eisenhower's response to the Soviet satellite, New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1993, p. xiv. ISBN 0-19-505008-8
^ McDougall, Walter A. . . . the Heavens and the Earth A Political History of the Space Age,New York. Basic Books, Publishers, 1985, p. 134. ISBN 0-465-02887-X
^ Peebles, Curtis. The Moby Dick Project Reconnaissance Balloons Over Russia, Washington and London. The Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991, p. 180. ISBN 1-56098-025-7
^ Burrows, William E. By Any Means Necessary America's Secret Air War in the Cold War, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001, p. 236. ISBN 0-374-11747-0
^ Peebles, Curtis. The Corona Project America's First Spy Satellites, Annapolis, Maryland. The United States Naval Institute Press, 1997, p. 26. ISBN 1-55750-688-4
^ McDougall, Walter A. . . . the Heavens and the Earth A Political History of the Space Age,New York. Basic Books, Publishers, 1985, p. 118. ISBN 0-465-02887-X
^ Divine, Robert A.. The Sputnik Challenge Eisenhower's response to the Soviet satellite, New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1993, p. xv. ISBN 0-19-505008-8
^ McDougall, Walter A. . . . the Heavens and the Earth A Political History of the Space Age,New York. Basic Books, Publishers, 1985, p. 172. ISBN 0-465-02887-X
^ Prados, John. The Soviet Estimate US intelligence analysis & Russian military strength, New York, The Dial Press, 1982, p. 80. ISBN 0-385-27211-1
^ Harford, James.. Korolev how one man masterminded the Soviet drive to beat America to the Moon, New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997, p. 121. ISBN 0-471-14853-9
^ Hamlin, Jesse (November 26, 1995). "How Herb Caen Named a Generation". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
^ Krebs, Gunter. "Sputnik 40, 41, 99 (RS 17, 18, 19)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 15 August 2011.

Notes

^ The word sputnik (Russian: спутник) consists of the prefix с-, indicating "with" or "together", the root путь, which means "path" or "journey", and the suffix -ник, meaning "pertaining to or involved in." Thus, the word literally means "companion", "traveling companion" or "satellite", and is ultimately a modern adaptation of the Old Church Slavonic version of the word: съпѫтьникъ (sŭpǫtĭnikŭ). Contemporary American newspapers sometimes translated the word as "fellow traveler", a term that was already an anti-communist catch phrase.

References

Burrows, William E., "By Any Means Necessary," Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, ISBN 0-374-11747-0.
Divine, Robert A. The Sputnik Challenge, New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-505008-8
Green, Constance McLaughlin, and Lomax, Milton.. Vanguard a History, Washington D.C., National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA SP-4202.
Harford, James.. Korolev, New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., , ISBN 0-471-14853-9.
Lashmar, Paul, Spy Flights of the Cold War, Annapolis, Maryland, United States Naval Institute Press, ISBN 1-557550-837-2.
Lovell, Sir Bernard, "The Story of Jodrell Bank," New York, Harper & Row, Publishers, Library of Congress Card No. 68-17043
McDougall, Walter A. . . . the Heavens and the Earth,New York. Basic Books, Publishers, ISBN 0-465-02887-X.
Peebles, Curtis. The Corona Project, Annapolis, Maryland. The United States Naval Institute Press, ISBN 1-55750-688-4.
Peebles, Curtis. The Moby Dick Project, Washington, The Smithsonian Institution Press, ISBN 1-56098-025-7.
Peebles, Curtis. Shadow Flight, Novato, California. The Presideo Press, Inc., ISBN 0-89141-700-1.
Prados, John. The Soviet Estimate, New York, The Dial Press, ISBN 0-385-27211-1.
Siddiqi, Asif A., Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, ISBN 0-8130-2627-X.
Swenson, L, Jr, Grimwood, J. M. Alexander, C.C. This New Ocean, A History of Project Mercury, Washington D.C.. National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration, Library of Congress Card No. 66-62424</ref>* Zaloga, Stephen J.. The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword, Washington. The Smithsonian Institution Press, ISBN 1-58834-007-4.

External links

Template:Sputnik program

[1] Swenson, L, Jr, Grimwood, J. M. Alexander, C.C. This New Ocean, A History of Project Mercury, Washington D.C.. National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration, 1966, p. 71. Library of Congress Card No. 66-62424

[3] Zaloga, Stephen J.. The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword, Washington. The Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002, p. 232. ISBN 1-58834-007-4

[4] Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 155. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X

[5] Lovell, Sir Bernard, "The Story of Jodrell Bank," New York, Harper & Row, Publishers, 1968, p. 196, Library of Congress Card No. 68-17043

[6] Harford, James.. Korolev how one man masterminded the Soviet drive to beat America to the Moon, New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997, p. 127. ISBN 0-471-14853-9

[7] Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 163. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X

[8] Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 172. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X

[9] Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 172. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X

[10] Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 173. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X

[11] Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 173. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X

[Sputnik_3_chronology-12] "Sputnik 3". Retrieved 2010-05-26.

[13] Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 176. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X

[14] Siddiqi, Asif A.. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 149. ISBN 0-8130-2627-X

[15] Harford, James.. Korolev how one man masterminded the Soviet drive to beat America to the Moon, New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997, p. 126. ISBN 0-471-14853-9

[16] Green, Constance McLaughlin, and Lomax, Milton.. Vanguard a History, Washington D.C., National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1970, p. 219. NASA SP-4202

[17] Lashmar, Paul.. Spy Flights of the Cold War, Annapolis, Maryland, United States Naval Institute Press, 1996, p. 146. ISBN 1-557550-837-2

[18] Peebles, Curtis. Shadow Flights America's Secret Air War against the Soviet Union, Novato, California. The Presideo Press, Inc., 2000, p. 168. ISBN 0-89141-700-1

[19] Divine, Robert A. The Sputnik Challenge Eisenhower's response to the Soviet satellite, New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1993, p. xiv. ISBN 0-19-505008-8

[20] McDougall, Walter A. . . . the Heavens and the Earth A Political History of the Space Age,New York. Basic Books, Publishers, 1985, p. 134. ISBN 0-465-02887-X

[21] Peebles, Curtis. The Moby Dick Project Reconnaissance Balloons Over Russia, Washington and London. The Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991, p. 180. ISBN 1-56098-025-7

[22] Burrows, William E. By Any Means Necessary America's Secret Air War in the Cold War, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001, p. 236. ISBN 0-374-11747-0

[23] Peebles, Curtis. The Corona Project America's First Spy Satellites, Annapolis, Maryland. The United States Naval Institute Press, 1997, p. 26. ISBN 1-55750-688-4

[24] McDougall, Walter A. . . . the Heavens and the Earth A Political History of the Space Age,New York. Basic Books, Publishers, 1985, p. 118. ISBN 0-465-02887-X

[25] Divine, Robert A.. The Sputnik Challenge Eisenhower's response to the Soviet satellite, New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1993, p. xv. ISBN 0-19-505008-8

[26] McDougall, Walter A. . . . the Heavens and the Earth A Political History of the Space Age,New York. Basic Books, Publishers, 1985, p. 172. ISBN 0-465-02887-X

[27] Prados, John. The Soviet Estimate US intelligence analysis & Russian military strength, New York, The Dial Press, 1982, p. 80. ISBN 0-385-27211-1

[28] Harford, James.. Korolev how one man masterminded the Soviet drive to beat America to the Moon, New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997, p. 121. ISBN 0-471-14853-9

[Hamlin-29] Hamlin, Jesse (November 26, 1995). "How Herb Caen Named a Generation". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-09-30.

[GSP-30] Krebs, Gunter. "Sputnik 40, 41, 99 (RS 17, 18, 19)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 15 August 2011.

[2] The word sputnik (Russian: спутник) consists of the prefix с-, indicating "with" or "together", the root путь, which means "path" or "journey", and the suffix -ник, meaning "pertaining to or involved in." Thus, the word literally means "companion", "traveling companion" or "satellite", and is ultimately a modern adaptation of the Old Church Slavonic version of the word: съпѫтьникъ (sŭpǫtĭnikŭ). Contemporary American newspapers sometimes translated the word as "fellow traveler", a term that was already an anti-communist catch phrase.

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 [[Image:Dawn of the Space Age.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Sputnik 1]]: Dawn of the [[Space Age]] (artist's depiction)]]
+". . .On October 4, 1957 Sputnik I shot into orbit and forcibly opened the Space Age."
-The '''Sputnik program''' ({{lang-ru|Спутник}}, {{IPA-ru|ˈsputnʲɪk}} (ˈspootnik), which is translated as 'companion' or 'satellite') is the commonly known name of a group of various [[robotic spacecraft]] missions launched by the [[Soviet Union]]. The first of these, ''[[Sputnik 1]]'', launched the first human-made object to orbit the Earth. That launch took place on October 4, 1957 as part of the [[International Geophysical Year]] and demonstrated the viability of using [[artificial satellite]]s to explore the upper atmosphere.
+- NASA, "This New Ocean"<ref>Swenson, L, Jr, Grimwood, J. M. Alexander, C.C. ''This New Ocean, A History of Project Mercury'', Washington D.C..  National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration, 1966, p. 71. Library of Congress Card No. 66-62424</ref>The '''Sputnik program''' ({{lang-ru|Спутник}}, {{IPA-ru|ˈsputnʲɪk}} (ˈspootnik), which is translated as 'companion' or 'satellite') is the commonly known name of a group of various [[robotic spacecraft]] missions launched by the [[Soviet Union]]. The first of these, ''[[Sputnik 1]]'', launched the first human-made object to orbit the Earth. That launch took place on October 4, 1957 as part of the [[International Geophysical Year]] and demonstrated the viability of using [[artificial satellite]]s to explore the upper atmosphere.
 The [[Russian language|Russian]] word ''sputnik'' literally means "co-traveler," "traveling companion," or "satellite."<ref group="note">The word ''sputnik'' ({{lang-ru|спутник}}) consists of the [[prefix]] ''с''-, indicating "with" or "together", the [[Root (linguistics)|root]] ''путь'', which means "path" or "journey", and the [[suffix]] -''ник'', meaning "pertaining to or involved in." Thus, the word literally means "companion", "traveling companion" or "satellite", and is ultimately a modern adaptation of the [[Old Church Slavonic]] version of the word: ''съпѫтьникъ (sŭpǫtĭnikŭ)''. Contemporary American newspapers sometimes translated the word as "[[fellow traveler]]", a term that was already an [[anti-communism|anti-communist]] catch phrase.</ref> The satellite's [[R-7 rocket|R-7 launch vehicle]] was designed initially to carry [[ballistic missile|nuclear warhead]]s. The R-7 was also known by it's GURVO designation 8K71.<ref>Zaloga, Stephen J.. ''The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword'', Washington.  The Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002, p. 232. ISBN 1-58834-007-4</ref>
@@ Line 70: / Line 71: @@
 * Prados, John. ''The Soviet Estimate'', New York, The Dial Press, ISBN 0-385-27211-1.
 * Siddiqi, Asif A., ''Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge'', Gainesville, Florida.  The University of Florida Press, ISBN 0-8130-2627-X.
-* Zaloga, Stephen J.. ''The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword'', Washington.  The Smithsonian Institution Press,  ISBN 1-58834-007-4.
+* Swenson, L, Jr, Grimwood, J. M. Alexander, C.C. ''This New Ocean, A History of Project Mercury'', Washington D.C..  National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration, Library of Congress Card No. 66-62424</ref>* Zaloga, Stephen J.. ''The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword'', Washington.  The Smithsonian Institution Press,  ISBN 1-58834-007-4.
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