Satellites The history of the artificial satellite How a satellite works Communication satellites   The history of the artificial satellite: An artificial satellite is one in which the satellite is created by man for example sputnik. On the other hand a non-artificial satellite is one in which it travels and was created natural and not by man. The meaning of ‘satellite' does not suggest that it is either a natural or unnatural thing satellite simply means ‘a celestial body that orbits a planet, for example a moon? The first artificial satellite was successfully launched by the Soviet Union on October 4th 1957, this satellite was called Sputnik 1. Sputnik 1 weighed 183 pounds, was about the size of a cricket ball and took 98 minutes to orbit the earth. The launch of this satellite; sputnik 1, has been named as the start of the space age and the start of the US-USSR space race which spaned over the years of the 1960’s. The IGY (International Geophysical Year) was established in 1952 as the time spanning from the 1st of July 1957 until the 31st of December 1958. The IGY was established by the group known as the International Council of Scientific Unions. The reason for this establishment was because the International Council of Scientific Unions believed that throughout this time the cycles of solar activity would be at a high point. A resolution was adopted by the council calling that all artificial satellites be launched during the time of the IGY. This was in 1954 and the reason for this was to map the earth’s surface over this time. Plans announced by the White House proposing that an earth orbiting satellite be launched for the IGY. They received many proposals from many Government Research Agencies to develop this satellite but by September 1955 it was decided that the naval research Laboratories Vanguard proposal was the best one to represent the US during the IGY. But this idea was soon turned away from when the USSR launched Sputnik. This launch caught the attention of the world for the reason that the sputnik had a much more impressive size than Vanguard’s intended 3.5 pound payload. Along with this launch came the fear that because the USSR now had the ability to launch satellites, it would be able to launch ballistic missiles containing nuclear devices to the US. The next launch was on November 3rd of that year when the Soviet’s launched Sputnik 2. Sputnik 2 carried a much heavier payload. This included a dog called Laika. Immediately after Sputnik I was launched, the US Defence Department responded by funding another satellite project run by a man named Von Braun. Von Braun, his team and the US Army arsenal at Redstone worked on what was the Explorer Project. It was not until January 31st that Explorer I was launched. It contained a small, scientifically important payload which is responsible for discovering the magnetic radiation belts around the earth. These were named after the principal investigator James Van Allen. The explorer program continued creating a series of successful lightweight scientific spacecraft. In July 1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed by congress, more commonly known as the space Act; creating NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and other government agencies. NASA was official as of October 1958. << previous  | The history of the satellite | How a satellite works | Communication satellites | next>>