50 Years Ago: Sputnik 1 becomes the third man-made object to reach space
By James Grahame
Sputnik electrified the world. The 184-lb radio transmitter stunned the United States by being eight times heavier than the 21-1/2-lb device American scientists planned to launch the following spring.
"By WILLIAM J. JORDEN
Special to The New York Times
MOSCOW, Saturday, Oct. 5 -- The Soviet Union announced this morning that it successfully launched a man-made earth satellite into space yesterday.
The Russians calculated the satellite's orbit at a maximum of 560 miles above the earth and its speed at 18,000 miles an hour.
The official Soviet news agency Tass said the artificial moon, with a diameter of twenty-two inches and a weight of 184 pounds, was circling the earth once every hour and thirty-five minutes. This means more than fifteen times a day."
The first vehicles to reach space were a pair of German V2 rockets that achieved apogees of 189 km (117 miles) and 176 km (190 miles) during vertical test flights in June 1944. Sadly, the exact dates and circumstances of the launches are lost in the mists of time.
