Into the Space

First into Space

Sputnik - The Spark of the Space Fire

It all begun on October 4th in year 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite. Sputnik was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm. in diameter), weighing only 83.6 kg. , which took about 1 hour and 38 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch initiated many new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. The Sputnik launch was a single event that spark started the Space Fire and the U.S.-U.S.S.R Space Race.

 The story begun in 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to term the period from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, as the International Geophysical Year (IGY) because of the fact that the cycles of solar activity would be at a high point then. In October 1954, the council passed  a resolution aiming for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the Earth's surface. 

In July 1955, the White House put forward plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the IGY and start looking for proposals from various Government research agencies to undertake development. In September 1955, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was chosen to be used by the U.S. during the IGY. 

The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a technological achievement, Sputnik caught the world's attention and the American public off-guard. Its size was more impressive than Vanguard's intended payload of 1.58 k.g.. In addition,It created a fear among people about the Soviet's ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. 

Then the Soviets struck again; on November 3, Sputnik II was launched, carrying a much heavier payload, including a dog named Laika. 

Initially after the Sputnik I launch in October 1957, the U.S. Defense Department responded to the political excitement by approving funding for another U.S. satellite project. As an alternative to Vanguard simultaneously, Wernher von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal team began work on the Explorer project. On January 31, 1958, the wind flow changed, when the United States successfully launched Explorer I. The Explorer program continued as a successful ongoing series of lightweight, scientifically useful spacecraft. This satellite Explorer 1 carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth, named after principal investigator James Van Allen.

In July 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act (commonly called the "Space Act"), which created NASA as of October 1, 1958 from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and other government agencies. Thus, the Sputnik launch also led directly to the creation of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

This metal arming key is the last remaining piece of the Sputnik 1 satellite. It prevented contact between the batteries and the transmitter prior to launch. Currently on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.