RUSSIA+AND+THE+SPUTNIK

=__**RUSSIA AND THE SPUTNIK:**__=

The Space race was between the USSR and the USA and started in October, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite -- named Sputnik -- to be hurled into orbit around the Earth. Sputnik was actually no larger than a beach ball and sent meaningless signals back to earth, but it had a profound effect on the thinking of citizens and governments around the globe. It was a shiny steel sphere about 57cm across with four antennas trailing behind it. Russian engineers wanted to make sure that people around the globe could both see and hear it. Sputnik was polished so it would reflect light that could be seen with the naked eye even from 175 miles up in the sky. And it broadcast a "beep-beep" pattern of signals that could be picked up by amateur radio operators around the world.



The Russian //Sputnik//. The reaction in the U.S. and around the world was astonishment and some measure of fear. All of a sudden, there was an "enemy satellite" streaking across the sky over the U.S. At the time, no one knew what it was capable of doing. What U.S. political leaders did know was that if the Soviet Union had rockets powerful enough to launch a satellite, they had rockets powerful enough to launch atomic bombs on the U.S. Who would've thought that a metal beach ball would've drawn so much attention? However after this the space race was heavily involved in the cold war as both sides thought that they could use the technology to force each other to back down. Or maybe the "beep-beep" was just really annoying and the US just wanted a way to shoot it down and the USSR saw it as a threat. It might’ve been one big misunderstanding.


 * November 1957 -- Sputnik 2**

Laika the dog was aboard this second, larger Sputnik -- demonstrating the Soviets' ability to send heavier payloads into space and hinting that a man may soon follow.