View Full Version : Sputnik, the Soviet Satelite
1stTimeCaller
10/16/2006, 12:48 PM
What did it do? Did it collect information? I know that it was the first man-made satelite to orbit the earth or something like that but WTF did it do? Why were we Americans scared that the Soviets did that?
TIA
IB4OU2
10/16/2006, 12:54 PM
What did it do? Did it collect information? I know that it was the first man-made satelite to orbit the earth or something like that but WTF did it do? Why were we Americans scared that the Soviets did that?
TIA
I think it just transmitted a radio beacon.
yermom
10/16/2006, 12:59 PM
it didn't even orbit, did it?
i'm thinking it was just the first manned space flight
IB4OU2
10/16/2006, 01:04 PM
The satellite weighed about 83 kg (184 pounds). The Sputnik 1 satellite was a 58.0 cm-diameter aluminum sphere that carried four whip-like antennas that were 2.4-2.9 m long. The antennas looked like long "whiskers" pointing to one side. It had two radio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio) transmitters (20 and 40 MHz) and is believed to have orbited Earth at a height of about 250 km (150 miles). Analysis of the radio signals was used to gather information about the electron density of the ionosphere. Temperature and pressure were encoded in the duration of radio beeps, indicating the satellite was not punctured by a meteorite. Sputnik 1 was launched by an R-7 rocket (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-7_rocket). It incinerated upon re-entry on January 3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_3), 1958 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958).
1stTimeCaller
10/16/2006, 01:05 PM
what did the radio beacon do? did it just let them calc the speed and stuff of the satellite?
Viking Kitten
10/16/2006, 01:06 PM
Nah Yermom, you're thinking of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. But Sputnik was unmanned. And I imagine it scared people just because it was a technology our enemies had that we didn't have.
OKLA21FAN
10/16/2006, 01:06 PM
what did the radio beacon do?
beep....beep......beep....beep
1stTimeCaller
10/16/2006, 01:07 PM
cool, thanks IB4OU2.
IB4OU2
10/16/2006, 01:07 PM
The satellite weighed about 83 kg (184 pounds). The Sputnik 1 satellite was a 58.0 cm-diameter aluminum sphere that carried four whip-like antennas that were 2.4-2.9 m long. The antennas looked like long "whiskers" pointing to one side. It had two radio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio) transmitters (20 and 40 MHz) and is believed to have orbited Earth at a height of about 250 km (150 miles). Analysis of the radio signals was used to gather information about the electron density of the ionosphere. Temperature and pressure were encoded in the duration of radio beeps, indicating the satellite was not punctured by a meteorite. Sputnik 1 was launched by an R-7 rocket (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-7_rocket). It incinerated upon re-entry on January 3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_3), 1958 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958).
:)
yermom
10/16/2006, 01:10 PM
Nah Yermom, you're thinking of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. But Sputnik was unmanned. And I imagine it scared people just because it was a technology our enemies had that we didn't have.
ahh, ok
yeah, we really need someone to be competing on this kinda stuff again ;)
it might be the Chinese soon :eek:
BeetDigger
10/16/2006, 01:10 PM
And I imagine it scared people just because it was a technology our enemies had that we didn't have.
Exactly. We were paranoid to the wazzou at the time. If the Soviets announced a new toilet design, we immediately spent millions trying to out do them.
Cold war fun. Bomb shelters, space race, spies, Oregon refs working the 72 Olympic basketball game....
IB4OU2
10/16/2006, 01:13 PM
cool, thanks IB4OU2.
You're welcome buddy.
Widescreen
10/16/2006, 01:17 PM
The new race is nano-technology. The Chinese are apparently way ahead of us on this which is disturbing. The closest thing we've come up with is:
http://media.arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.media/ipodnanobag.jpg
BigRedJed
10/16/2006, 01:25 PM
Not to disagree with anyone here, but the real reason Sputnik was scary is because it proved that the Soviets could deliver a nuclear payload anywhere in the world. True, there was a space race, but much of it was militarily driven. A rocket that could put that hunk of metal into space could also put a warhead up our asses, shot from within their own borders. Before that, although we knew they had nuclear weapons technology, as far as we knew they would have had to bomb us from a platform in this hemisphere.
IB4OU2
10/16/2006, 01:33 PM
Not to disagree with anyone here, but the real reason Sputnik was scary is because it proved that the Soviets could deliver a nuclear payload anywhere in the world. True, there was a space race, but much of it was militarily driven. A rocket that could put that hunk of metal into space could also put a warhead up our asses, shot from within their own borders. Before that, although we knew they had nuclear weapons technology, as far as we knew they would have had to bomb us from a platform in this hemisphere.
Very true, I remember also practicing the curl-up and make a ball under your desk in 1st grade back at Mckinley grade shool in Norman about 1960. (as if that was going to help.)
BeetDigger
10/16/2006, 01:43 PM
Very true, I remember also practicing the curl-up and make a ball under your desk in 1st grade back at Mckinley grade shool in Norman about 1960. (as if that was going to help.)
I always figured it couldn't hurt. Our school even had the nuclear fall out shelter in the basement, complete with signs. I haven't seen a sign like that in school in years. Kids these days, they don't know what they are missing.
proud gonzo
10/16/2006, 01:46 PM
Sputnik wasn't very big. Sputnik 2 had a dog (Laika) onboard.
BigRedJed
10/16/2006, 01:50 PM
Soon after, Laika gave a whole new meaning to the term "hot dog."
What? I love dogs! It's only a joke, ppl!
Pricetag
10/16/2006, 01:53 PM
I always figured it couldn't hurt.
If you made a tight enough ball, you could probably actually kiss your *** goodbye.
SoonerJack
10/16/2006, 02:32 PM
My scout troop stored its camping gear in my church's "civil defense shelter" which was actually a closet on the first floor (not even a basement). So one time we found these big cans labeled "candy". Being good scouts we took a can opener to them to see what kind of candy was inside. It was boring square cherry candy. No chocolate whatsoever. I'm so glad we didn't really have a nucular disaster because the candy would have succed...that is, if there was any left.
Pricetag
10/16/2006, 03:20 PM
I read somewhere that that candy was proven to be cancer causing, or something.
beep....beep......beep....beep
Yup. That was it.
Now the first American Earth satellite, on the other hand, discovered (or, more accurately, was used to discover) the Van Allen radiation belts around the planet.
proud gonzo
10/16/2006, 04:28 PM
they have replicas of the sputnik and the sputnik 2 at the Kansas Cosmosphere :D
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