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Sputnik Research Paper

609 Words3 Pages

Lily Lenton
Bruhn
Period 3
19 May 2015
Sputnik 1
On October 4, 1957 7:28 PM, the Space Age was started with the Soviet Union’s launch of the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth
The satellite was named Sputnik, which is Russian for “traveling companion of the Earth”
Sputnik was an aluminum sphere with a diameter of 22 inches and it carried four whip-like antennas which were 2.4-2.9 m long. It weighed 184 pounds, and took approximately 96 minutes to orbit the earth on an elliptical path. Traveling at 18,000 miles an hour; its elliptical orbit had a farthest point from Earth of 584 miles and a nearest point of 143 miles.
During the 1950s, both the United States and the Soviet Union were working to develop new technology. Over the decade, the United States tested several types of rockets and missiles, but all of these tests failed.
Officially, Sputnik was launched for the year the International Council of Scientific Unions said would be ideal of launching of satellites to study Earth and the solar system. However, many Americans feared violent uses of the Soviets’ new rocket and satellite technology, which was ahead of the U.S. space effort. Sputnik was about 10 times the size of the planned U.S. satellite, which was not scheduled to be launched until the next year. The …show more content…

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