Sputnik 1 (/ˈspʌtnɪk, ˈspʊtnɪk/, ‹See Tfd›Russian: Спутник-1, Satellite 1) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries became depleted. Aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958. The world's first observation was made at the school observatory in Rodewisch (Saxony).
It was a polished metal sphere 58 cm (23 in) in diameter with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses. Its radio signal was easily detectable by amateur radio operators, and the 65° orbital inclination made its flight path cover virtually the entire inhabited Earth.
The satellite's success was unanticipated by the United States. This precipitated the American Sputnik crisis and triggered the Space Race, part of the Cold War. The launch was the beginning of a new era of political, military, technological, and scientific developments. The word sputnik is Russian for satellite when interpreted in an astronomical context; its other meanings are spouse or traveling companion.
Tracking and studying Sputnik 1 from Earth provided scientists with valuable information. The density of the upper atmosphere could be deduced from its drag on the orbit, and the propagation of its radio signals gave data about the ionosphere.
Sputnik 1 was launched during the International Geophysical Year from Site No.1/5, at the 5th Tyuratam range, in Kazakh SSR (now known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome). The satellite traveled at a peak speed of about 8 km/s (18,000 mph), taking 96.20 minutes to complete each orbit. It transmitted on 20.005 and 40.002 MHz, which were monitored by radio operators throughout the world. The signals continued for 22 days until the transmitter batteries depleted on 26 October 1957. On 4 January 1958, after three months in orbit, Sputnik 1 burned up while reentering Earth's atmosphere, having completed 1,440 orbits of the Earth, and travelling a distance of approximately 70,000,000 km (43,000,000 mi).
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The effort you put in is worth it. I agitate a lot IRL, and I get a lot of flack for it obviously, but I've had a random guy tell me he left the defense company he worked at because of some information I posted. I've had people ask me to review lists of companies they were applying for to see if there were any companies that were developing products for the genocide. I've had another few randoms tell me that they've changed their mind about a lot of things because of it. If that's just the people that explicitly reach out, just imagine how many people are changing their actions because they see a commie telling them that a better world is possible and how to contribute to it? We have enormous power to use to change the world positively just by talking with people and changing their minds, because liberalism and fascism are so fragile that they fall apart under closer inspection: all people need is a little push to see how incoherent bourgeois ideology is.
Thanks, that's a good message. I think it's more selfishly driven, I have an inner debate-pervert I try to kill off every day so I can just be a chill person, but it is nice when people reach out at let me know I've helped. Thanks!