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
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
one day
I think it just transmitted a radio beacon.Originally Posted by 1stTimeCaller
it didn't even orbit, did it?
i'm thinking it was just the first manned space flight
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 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. It incinerated upon re-entry on January 3, 1958.
what did the radio beacon do? did it just let them calc the speed and stuff of the satellite?
one day
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.
beep....beep......beep....beep
“Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.”
cool, thanks IB4OU2.
one day
ahh, ok
yeah, we really need someone to be competing on this kinda stuff again
it might be the Chinese soon
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.
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal labotomy.
Cold war fun. Bomb shelters, space race, spies, Oregon refs working the 72 Olympic basketball game....
"Democracy without respect for individual rights sucks. It's just ganging up against the weird kid, and I'm always the weird kid.."
Penn Jillette
You're welcome buddy.
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:
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.
Well, crap.
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.
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal labotomy.
Sputnik wasn't very big. Sputnik 2 had a dog (Laika) onboard.
"I'm a mother****ing party all by myself."
Soon after, Laika gave a whole new meaning to the term "hot dog."
What? I love dogs! It's only a joke, ppl!
Well, crap.
If you made a tight enough ball, you could probably actually kiss your *** goodbye.
La ola es mía.
Posting Permissions
