SPUTNIK MISSIONS
By: Luke Depperschmidt
ABOUT SPUTNIK
The Sputnik 1 spacecraft was the first artifitial satellite successfully placed in orbit around the Earth and launched from Baikonur, Cosmodrome at Tyuratam (370 km southwest of the small town of Baikonur) in Kazakhstan, then part of the former solveit union.
PICTURES
sputnik 2 satellite
sputnik the origin of the world
sputnik up close
SPUTNIK FUN FACTS
The Russian word "Sputnik" means "companian" ("satellite in the astronomical sence). When the Sputnik was launched in 1957, it shocked the world. Even though Sputnik was just 22 inches in diameter (slightly larger than a basketball), the Soviets' launch of a satellite thrust the U.S into a space race that paralleled the arms of the Cold War.