Question by johnny canuck: what were some discoveries made by sputnik 1?
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Answer by ⌡Machine Head⌠
Zilch: It was simply a technical demonstration of the ability to launch an object into orbit and so to keep the design as simple and bug-free as possible no scientific instrumentation was included, merely a shortwave transmitter that broadcast the famous “beep-beep-beep.”
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Dave says
Sputnik 1 was itself an experiment simply to put a satellite in space. It had I believe 5 frequencies which it transmitted, coincidentally or not they were all the same frequencies of the most popular radio broadcasts in America. Just so we could hear that beep, just so we could hear the Soviets in space.
Petrusclavus says
It demonstrated to the world that the Soviet Union had a working I.C.B.M. – if you can loft an transmitter into orbit then you can drop a warhead anywhere on the planet.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewat says
The paranoia of the USA.
charcinders says
The launch of Sputnik 1 was mainly symbolic, to show that the USSR had beaten the USA into space. It was no accident that the radio transmitter on the satellite could be picked up by amateur radio enthusiasts all around the world.
However it did provide some data about the density of the upper atmosphere and radio wave propagation through the atmosphere.