 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
1957
TIME CAPSULE: THE SPACE RACE
by Cheryl Lowry
The
Space Race: Sputnik 1 and 2
1957 was a critical year in the history of space exploration with the launch of the first earth space satellites Sputnik 1 and 2 by the Soviet Union, who beat the United States to this achievement, spurring American fears of a nuclear attack.
On October 4th, 1957, Sputnik 1 was launched from the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome. Weighing 184 pounds, at the approximate size of a basketball, the satellite was intended to record information about the earth's upper atmosphere, and to measure space particles ("micrometeorites"). It circled earth for 57 days, emitting a steady beep broadcast worldwide on TV and radio. It returned to earth January 4th, 1958.
Sputnik
1's successor wasn't far behind, and raised the stakes with the addition
of a passenger. A stray Siberian Husky mix named Kudryavka ("Little
Curly") had the great misfortune to be chosen as the
first animal to be sent into space, aboard the Sputnik 2.
Renamed Laika (“Barker”), she was trained in a Moscow research center and a hermetically sealed compartment was created for her space flight within the half-ton spacecraft. The chamber provided her with food, water, and temperature control, and she was monitored with sensors and a television camera to determine the effects of space travel upon her vital systems. She was successfully launched into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on November 3,1957.
It was known at the time that there was no way to recover her from space. Evidence suggested she died within hours from panic and heat (one of several theories about how she met her end). Sputnik 2 reentered Earth’s atmosphere on April 14, 1958.
The Soviet Union's achievement prompted a swift American response: the launch of Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958, and the creation of NASA in July of that same year.
Sources
"Sputnik,"
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2003
The
New York Times on America Online
National Space
Science Data Center Web site
Aerospaceguide:
Space Projects and Info