Sputnik launched in 1957

The Soviet Union inaugurated the ‘Space Race’ when it sent Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite into orbit on October 4, 1957.  Launched from Tyuratam in the Kazakh Republic, it weighed 184 pounds and was only 22 inches in diameter.

Its launch caught the world off-guard including the US scientific, military and government.  In 1952, the International Council of Scientific Union proclaimed the time between July 1, 1957 and December 31, 1958 as the International Geophysical Year, since cycles of solar activity would be at a high point.  In October 1954, the council adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during this time period to study the surface of the Earth.

The White House announced plans in July 1955 to launch such a satellite and the US was in the testing stage of the TV-2 rocket when news of the Sputnik launch broke.  The American public feared the Russians could launch nuclear weapons from orbit.

Sputnik orbited the Earth every hour and thirty-six minutes in an elliptical path, 584 miles at its furthest point and only 143 miles at its nearest.  It transmitted signal which could be picked up by amateur radio operators until its batteries ran down on October 26.  Sputnik burned up as it fell back to Earth on January 4, 1958 after travelling about 43.5 million miles and spending 3 months in orbit.