The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Sputnik 1 was the world's first space satellite. It was successfully launched into space by a team of Russian scientists on October 4, 1957, from the town of Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The name of the satellite, Sputnik, is the Russian word for "traveler." Sputnik 1's successful launch shocked American scientists and engineers, who believed that America would be the first to send a satellite into space. Sputnik 1's reported weight of 184 lbs. (83.6 kg) further astonished and intimidated American scientists, who were at work on America's first satellite that weighed only twenty pounds.
Sputnik 1, created by the design team led by Sergei Korolov, was a moon-shaped, spherical apparatus with a diameter of 22.83 in. (58 cm). It had four flexible whip antennae that ranged in length from approximately 2.2 to 2.6 yards (2.4 to 2.9 m). Two of the antennae were radio transmitters that sent signals back to Earth on two different frequencies as the satellite traveled through space at approximately 17,360 miles (28,000 km) per hour. As the satellite circled the Earth once every ninety-five minutes, it gathered valuable information about the ionosphere and space temperatures. Sputnik 1 used battery power to relay this data back to Earth via its radio antennae.
Sputnik 1 fell back to Earth on January 4, 1958. The success of Sputnik 1 signalled the beginning of the increasingly tense competition that would characterize the relationship between the scientific communities and governments of Russia and the United States for the next thirty years.