Sputnik 1
A technology invention the size of a basketball set off fierce competition between the United States and the U.S.S.R. 50 years ago this week, when Sputnik I launched and began the space race.
The satellite weighed just under 185 pounds and orbited the Earth in 98 minutes, according to NASA, which came into existence because of Sputnik. The launch, on Oct. 4, 1957, marked the dawn of the Space Age.
Five years earlier, the International Council of Scientific Unions declared July 1, 1957, through Dec. 31, 1958, the International Geophysical Year, which would coincide with the peak of the 11-year cycle of sunspot activity. The United States created a committee to plan satellite launches and research programs to study cosmic rays, gravity, solar activity, and other phenomenon during that "year." By 1954, the United States planned to launch satellites to map the Earth's services. The White House announced those plans in 1955.
Then, the Soviets beat U.S. scientists and policy-makers to the punch.
Sputnik came as a surprise to Americans, although President Dwight D. Eisenhower knew of its launch ahead of time, according to NASA documents. The public was so taken aback by word that their Cold War rivals had sent a satellite into space, the White House tried to reassure the public by downplaying its significance. While Americans feared the development could foreshadow the launch of ballistic missiles and nuclear threats, the Soviets launched Sputnik II with a dog named Laika less than one month later, on Nov. 3.
The United States suffered another embarrassment and setback Dec. 6, when televising the attempted launch of its Vanguard satellite. The satellite, rushed to launch, burst into flames just a few feet off the ground.
The U.S. Defense Department later approved more funding for U.S. satellite projects and finally successfully launched Explorer I on Jan. 31, 1958. That satellite discovered magnetic radiation belts around the Earth.
In July of that year, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in large part as a reaction to Sputnik and fears that the Soviets would defeat the United States in the race to conquer space.
Fifty years later, Russian and U.S. scientists are working together to study the phsyiological effects of space.
The Space Station.
This photo was taken of the space station shortly after space shuttle Discovery undocked during the STS-114 mission.
As the space station has served as a science laboratory, it has also given crews something more important—a home away from home on Earth. During the upcoming five-year anniversary, the station will be home to its twelfth crew, Expedition 12. Inside the ultra-modern “home,” 15 Americans and 14 Russians have lived and worked aboard the space station.
With 15,000 cubic feet of habitable volume, more room than a conventional three-bedroom house, the space station affords many of the comforts one finds on Earth. There is a weightless “weight room” and even a musical keyboard alongside research facilities. Holidays are observed, and with it, traditional foods such as turkey and cobbler are eaten—with lemonade to wash it down.
One thing that makes the space station so distinctive is the experience that it gives the crews visiting the orbiting complex. After months of settling into a “routine” aboard the station, crewmembers never forget how special it is to be where they are.
“Of course, this 'routine' happens in the novel environment of space,” Expedition 5 Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson wrote in her thirteenth letter home from the station. “Being here, living here, is something that I will probably spend the rest of my life striving to find just the right words to try and encompass and convey just a fraction of what makes our endeavors in space so special and essential.”
To think that in only 50 years, man has gone from sending a small, unmanned satellite into space, to building a massive Space station, that can accomodate many scientists and observers from different countries. AND these countries have had to work together after many years of conflict between their nations.
Maybe there is such a thing as WORLD PEACE !
Author : Atomicwolf
Source : noeman.org/gsm
A technology invention the size of a basketball set off fierce competition between the United States and the U.S.S.R. 50 years ago this week, when Sputnik I launched and began the space race.
Five years earlier, the International Council of Scientific Unions declared July 1, 1957, through Dec. 31, 1958, the International Geophysical Year, which would coincide with the peak of the 11-year cycle of sunspot activity. The United States created a committee to plan satellite launches and research programs to study cosmic rays, gravity, solar activity, and other phenomenon during that "year." By 1954, the United States planned to launch satellites to map the Earth's services. The White House announced those plans in 1955.
Then, the Soviets beat U.S. scientists and policy-makers to the punch.
Sputnik came as a surprise to Americans, although President Dwight D. Eisenhower knew of its launch ahead of time, according to NASA documents. The public was so taken aback by word that their Cold War rivals had sent a satellite into space, the White House tried to reassure the public by downplaying its significance. While Americans feared the development could foreshadow the launch of ballistic missiles and nuclear threats, the Soviets launched Sputnik II with a dog named Laika less than one month later, on Nov. 3.
The United States suffered another embarrassment and setback Dec. 6, when televising the attempted launch of its Vanguard satellite. The satellite, rushed to launch, burst into flames just a few feet off the ground.
The U.S. Defense Department later approved more funding for U.S. satellite projects and finally successfully launched Explorer I on Jan. 31, 1958. That satellite discovered magnetic radiation belts around the Earth.
In July of that year, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in large part as a reaction to Sputnik and fears that the Soviets would defeat the United States in the race to conquer space.
Fifty years later, Russian and U.S. scientists are working together to study the phsyiological effects of space.
The Space Station.
This photo was taken of the space station shortly after space shuttle Discovery undocked during the STS-114 mission.
Credit: NASA 
As the space station has served as a science laboratory, it has also given crews something more important—a home away from home on Earth. During the upcoming five-year anniversary, the station will be home to its twelfth crew, Expedition 12. Inside the ultra-modern “home,” 15 Americans and 14 Russians have lived and worked aboard the space station.
With 15,000 cubic feet of habitable volume, more room than a conventional three-bedroom house, the space station affords many of the comforts one finds on Earth. There is a weightless “weight room” and even a musical keyboard alongside research facilities. Holidays are observed, and with it, traditional foods such as turkey and cobbler are eaten—with lemonade to wash it down.
One thing that makes the space station so distinctive is the experience that it gives the crews visiting the orbiting complex. After months of settling into a “routine” aboard the station, crewmembers never forget how special it is to be where they are.
“Of course, this 'routine' happens in the novel environment of space,” Expedition 5 Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson wrote in her thirteenth letter home from the station. “Being here, living here, is something that I will probably spend the rest of my life striving to find just the right words to try and encompass and convey just a fraction of what makes our endeavors in space so special and essential.”
To think that in only 50 years, man has gone from sending a small, unmanned satellite into space, to building a massive Space station, that can accomodate many scientists and observers from different countries. AND these countries have had to work together after many years of conflict between their nations.
Maybe there is such a thing as WORLD PEACE !
Author : Atomicwolf
Source : noeman.org/gsm
Labels: News
