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Sputnik I:

Sputnik I

On October 4, 1957, the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics launched the world's first artificial satellite into outer space.  The Baikonur Cosmodrome near Tyuratam, Kazakhstan was the launch site for Sputnik I.  The size of a beach ball, and designed by Sergei Korolyov, Sputnik I measured only 58 cm in diameter and weighed a mere 184 pounds, but it became the first man-made object to orbit the Earth.

Sputnik II

Circling the globe every 98 minutes, and transmitting its beep…beep to every amateur ham radio operator around, the polished silver sphere with four antennas captivated and embarrassed an entire nation.  Not only did the U.S.S.R. do it first, they did it better.  The United States' first planned satellite paled in comparison to the already launched Sputnik I.  And then Russia did it again launching Sputnik II, the second satellite in space, and the first to hold a living being, the first dog to leave Earth.

NASA

Determined not to follow further behind, America created NASA and started the Great Space Race determined to beat its archenemy of the Cold War, Russia.  But even then their two approaches differed, the U.S.A. wanted to be the first nation to set foot on the moon and the U.S.S.R. wanted to establish a permanent presence in outer space.  Cosmonaut and Soviet Air Force Major Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin orbited the Earth first and Astronaut Commander Neil Alden Armstrong was the first to walk on the moon.

Great Space Race

Fifty years later, the U.S. Space Shuttle ferries men and equipment to the former Union of Soviet Socialists Republics' International Space Station.  The planet Pluto is now a Dwarf Planet according to the International Astronomical Union.  Both countries are re-focusing on landing once more on the surface of the moon preparatory to a manned mission to Mars.  And with civilian contests like the Ansari X Prize to promote space tourism and the Google Lunar X Prize to promote the exploration of the moon, a new Space Race is about to begin.

A. Ryan Robbins of ycopfiles.com wrote this article.  Why cop files dot com?  It's Computer Information Security articles for the Law Enforcement community!  Follow me on FriendFeed.  Track me on Twitter.  Subscribe to my News Feeds for free.  Or read the Blog Frog to learn more about me.

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