![]() While the thought of lagging behind the Soviets in space exploration was troubling, another idea caused even more anxiety. The Sputnik satellite sat at the top of the rocket, housed in a special casing that the rocket jettisoned upon attaining orbit. It used kerosene T-1 as a fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer. The R-7 rocket had two stages and weighed more than 272 tons before launch (without fuel it weighed only 22 tons). Sputnik's systems activated upon detaching from the vehicle. The engineers attached Sputnik to a special R-7 launch vehicle. When activated, the switches altered the signals sent by Sputnik, giving Soviet ground control an idea of what was going on inside the satellite. They installed various switches that activated depending on changes in pressure or temperature. The engineers filled the satellite with nitrogen until it had an internal pressure of 1.3 atmospheres. There was a fan that would turn on automatically if the temperature inside the satellite went above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius). The satellite also had several other simple mechanisms inside of it. In reality, the radio transmissions could only give listeners on Earth an indication of the temperature inside the satellite. Many radio operators wondered if the beeps had any further significance, and theories ranged from simple navigational readings to more sinister applications, such as spy information. The purpose of this transmission was to provide proof to the rest of the world that the Soviet Union had succeeded in launching the first manmade satellite. The radio broadcast a repeated series of beeps. Inside the satellite was a simple radio transmitter and a silver-zinc battery pack. The result was Sputnik, a somewhat primitive device that still fulfilled the definition of a manmade satellite. In order to ensure that the Soviet Union launched its satellite first, Korolev decided to build a much simpler, smaller satellite. While the Soviets had planned to launch a scientific research satellite into orbit, the design and production process was lengthy. Korolev was under political pressure to beat the Americans into space. would also launch a satellite during IGY. Shortly after Eisenhower's announcement, an official from the Soviet Union said that the U.S.S.R. The IGY spanned from July 1957 to December 1958. President Eisenhower announced that the United States would launch a satellite during the International Geophysical Year (IGY). Some of those decisions were politically motivated. Korolev was also instrumental in many design decisions. As the second stage peaked, the rocket would jettison it and the third stage would fire. The rocket would build on its speed, going even faster. The concept was simple: as the first stage of the rocket reached peak speed, the rocket would jettison it and the second stage would fire. Tikhonravov concentrated mainly on designing a multi-stage rocket that could reach Earth orbit. Tikhonravov and Korolev both led teams that helped develop the Sputnik program. Allen Hynek and Fred Whipple plot the orbit of Sputnik at Harvard.ĭmitri Kessel/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images He also understood the political importance of beating the United States into space.Īstrophysicists J. He was adept at leveraging political contacts to help fund the space program. ![]() Korolev was one of the founders of the Soviet space program. The multi-stage rocket made it possible for a rocket to reach orbit. ![]() He was responsible for many of the advances in multi-stage rockets in the Soviet Union. Tikhonravov was a Soviet Air Force Academy graduate and expert in rocket science. In the Soviet Union, these individuals included Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov and Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. In both the Soviet Union and the United States, the scientific applications for rocketry would have slipped through the cracks if it weren't for a few dedicated individuals. And both countries focused more on military applications of rocketry than anything else. Both countries were eager to develop the most advanced rockets in the world. In many ways, the rocketry programs in the Soviet Union and the United States were parallel. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union began its own rocketry program. Several German engineers, including Werner von Braun, surrendered to the United States with the hope of continuing their research. ![]() Both the United States and the Soviet Union began to take an interest in rocketry.
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