First satellite launched to space 60 years ago

The Soviet scientists launched the first artificial Earth satellite to the near-earth orbit. It marked the beginning of new space era.

The space ship PC-1 represented a metal ball of 60 cm in diameter with transmitters inside and four aerials, which had to send the simplest signals to the Earth. The weight of the artificial Earth satellite was about 84 kilos. It was launched late in the evening on October 4, 1957 from the scientific range of USSR Defense Ministry which turned later into Baikonur Cosmodrome. Sputnik-1 separated from the second step of the carrier rocket and started to send signals to the Earth.

The satellite launch started the space era. Besides, it had great political significance and dispelled the myth about USSR being a technically poor country. The transmitters sent signals to Earth for two months and any radio listener could hear them. Moreover, USSR published recommendations on how to hear the signals of the satellite from space. The artificial Earth satellite accomplished 1440 turns around the Earth orbit and started to leave the orbit at the beginning of 1958.

It is worth reminding that prior to the 60th anniversary of the flight, Bonhams auction house put out to sale Sputnik-1 model. The unknown buyer paid around 850 thousand US dollars for it, which exceeded the initial price by five times.

Russkiy Mir