Soviets Launch Sputnik
The world’s first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball and weighed only 183.9 pounds. The orbit took about 98 minutes to go all the way around the earth on its path.
This started the political, military, technological, and scientific developments or the “space race”. The story starts in 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to establish July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, as the International Geophysical Year (IGY). In October 1954, the council adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the Earth’s surface. In 1955, the Naval Research Laboratory’s Vanguard proposal was chosen to represent the U.S. during the IGY.
The U.S. public feared that the launch of Sputnik would translate into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. The Soviets struck again; on November 3, Sputnik II was launched including a dog named Laika.
On January 31, 1958, the tide changed, when the United States successfully launched Explorer I. This satellite discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth.