What was Sputnik like?

Question by simply original: What was Sputnik ?

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Answers and Views:

Answer by Driftking20
Sputnik was the first satellite to go into space. It was crated by the Russians during the cold war.

Answer by gunfan
It’s the Russian name for their early satelites – the first in space.

Answer by suraj
it was an experimental sounding satellite that was launched by the USSR.

Answer by J.
Sputnik, name of the first of several artificial satellites launched by the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1961. The goals of the Sputnik program included studying the earth’s upper atmosphere, observing animal survival in space flight, and testing Soviet rocket technology. The launch of the unmanned Sputnik 1 and of Sputnik 2, which carried a dog, spurred the United States to invest more money and resources into its fledgling space program, initiating a race between the two nations to land a person on the moon (see Space Exploration).

The Sputnik program began on October 4, 1957, with the launch of Sputnik 1, which weighed 83 kg (184 lb). The official name of the satellite was Iskustvennyi Sputnik Zemli (fellow world traveler of the earth). The launch vehicle was a test version of the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (see Guided Missiles). Sputnik 2 was launched on November 3, 1957, and weighed 508 kg (1100 lb). It carried a female dog named Laika. On-board instruments showed that Laika died from heat and panic within hours, well before her oxygen supply was exhausted.

After failing in its first attempt, the United States launched its own satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. The satellite weighed only 14 kg (31 lb), including its rocket motor. The Soviets responded by launching Sputnik 3, which weighed 1.3 metric tons, on May 15, 1958.

The first three Sputnik satellites each carried instruments to measure the temperature and density of the earth’s upper atmosphere, the electron density of the ionosphere, and the size and number of micrometeorites (tiny particles in space). In addition, Sputnik 3 carried the first space laboratory, a wide array of instruments that could transmit information about the environment outside the satellite. Solar energy was used for the first time by Sputnik 3 to power its instruments and transmitters.

From 1958 to 1959 the Soviet Union interrupted the Sputnik program to concentrate on the Luna series of vehicles that were sent toward the moon. The Sputnik program was resumed with Sputniks 5 through 10, which were launched from 1960 to 1961. Sputniks 5, 6, 9, and 10 all carried dogs, most of which reentered the earth’s atmosphere safely and were recovered. These satellites each weighed several thousand kilograms and were working models of the Vostok spacecraft, which would eventually carry the first human passenger, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, into space in April 1961. Sputniks 7 and 8, launched in February 1961, served as launching platforms for the Venera spacecraft, which were sent toward Venus. The Cosmos series of spacecraft carried on the work of the Sputnik program after 1961.

In addition to initiating the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Sputnik series of spacecraft also had alarming military implications. The intercontinental ballistic missiles that were used to launch the Sputnik satellites were also capable of traveling from the Soviet Union to military targets in less than an hour—much less than the several hours required for conventional bomber aircraft. President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States reacted to the space race by signing the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Eisenhower also established the Advanced Research Projects Agency (now the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), a division of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Hope I helped. 🙂

Answer by Michael L
The Sputnik program (Russian: Спутник, Russian pronunciation: [ˈsputnʲɪk]) was a series of robotic spacecraft missions launched by the Soviet Union. The first of these, Sputnik 1, launched the first man-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 name “Спутник” means literally “co-traveler”, “traveling companion” or “satellite”, and its R-7 launch vehicle was designed initially to carry nuclear warheads.

Answer by Derek C
sputnik was a russian sattalite but its design dates back to the days of leonardo da vinci who also designed a helicopter and a submarine

Answer by $ Lord~k$
Sputnik 1 (Russian: “Спутник-1” Russian pronunciation: [ˈsputnʲɪk], “Satellite-1”, or literally “Co-pather-1” byname ПС-1 (PS-1, i.e. “Простейший Спутник-1”, or Elementary Satellite-1)) was the first artificial satellite to be put into outer space. Launched into geocentric orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957, it was the first of a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program.
The satellite helped to identify the density of high atmospheric layers through measurement of its orbital change and provided data on radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere. Because the satellite’s body was filled with pressurized nitrogen, Sputnik 1 also provided the first opportunity for meteoroid detection, as a loss of internal pressure due to meteoroid penetration of the outer surface would have been evident in the temperature data sent back to Earth. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1’s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space Race within the Cold War.
Sputnik-1 was set in motion during the International Geophysical Year from Site No.1 at the 5th Tyuratam range in Kazakh SSR (now at the Baikonur Cosmodrome). The satellite traveled at 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi) per hour and emitted radio signals at 20.005 and 40.002 MHz[1] which were monitored by amateur radio operators throughout the world.[2] The signals continued for 22 days until the transmitter batteries ran out on 26 October 1957.[3] Sputnik 1 burned up on 4 January 1958 as it fell from orbit upon reentering Earth’s atmosphere, after traveling about 60 million km (37 million miles) and spending 3 months in orbit.[

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