The history of first satellite ever launched

[Kevin_Hall]

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first man-made Earth orbit satellite Sputnik 1.
The satellite was designed by Korolev, the father of the Soviet space program.
Sputnik 1 spent 3 months in space and managed to complete about 1400 orbits.
It has made a huge breakthrough in space history.

 

[TheTick]

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/12959

Sputnik Crashed Here

Sputnik IV in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, not far from my home.

 

[danw2]

The effect was shocking. Like the next step would be bombs from space. My Dad was a ham radio operator so he tuned into the frequency so we could hear the beep beep beep. I think the local newspaper published a time table of when the satellite was in the vicinity. Friends at school came over to hear the beeps. Almost as memorable an event as the Kennedy assassination.

 

[dik]

I remember that... shot my first deer the day after, Nov 23/63 (deer)... I was 16 at the time.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[JohnRBaker]

While I was also 16 in November of 63, it was a couple of years later before I got my first deer.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[monkeydog]

Wow, 16 in 1963, you guys are 7 years older then me.
You guys are old.

 

[dik]

and still playing engineer, too. We'll give you a few years and you'll eventually catch up, hopefully.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[LittleWheels]

I was not even a twinkle in my father's eye in '57. Though he was probably chasing girls then, it might still have been around the schoolyard...

 

[dik]

Give it time... you'll eventually become BigWheels

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[gearguru]

Today is another anniversary - the Challenger...

But let's go back to the OP:
There are 4 books by Boris Chertok about the history of the Soviet rocket industry, available as a free download.
Amazing and mostly very honest and very detailed writing by a person who was inside of it all.

https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/rockets_people_vol1_detail.html

 

[dik]

Need Another Seven Astronauts...

"McDonald, the director of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project for the engineering contractor Morton Thiokol, was concerned that below-freezing temperatures might impact the integrity of the solid rockets' O-rings."

No one was held accountable for this serious design error.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[CWB1]

It’s been a few years since I read the reports, but IIRC that was an operational error on the part of NASA’s top brass, not a design error on Thiokol’s.

I agree tho on the frustration with the lack of accountability for bureaucrats.

 

[IRstuff]

No one was held accountable for this serious design error.

NASA was fully aware of the temperature limitation, but launched anyway; management essentially demanded that Thiokol and NASA engineers "prove" that there was a problem to stop the launch

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRPT-99hrpt1016/pdf/GPO-CRPT-99hrpt1016.pdf

https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/docs/rogers-commission/table-of-contents.html

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

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[JohnRBaker]

There's a place, not far from Promontory Point, Utah, where the East and West transcontinental railroads met and the 'Golden' spike was driven, that's called 'Rocket Park'. It's a display of 'rocket' paraphernalia on public display, in the parking lot of one of Thiokol’s testing facilities:

October 2009 (Sony A100)

On one of our 'photo safaris' that my late friend Dennis and I took, we stopped after seeing one of those 'brown signs' while we were heading toward Promontory, and as a couple of geeky engineers, we just had to see what it was all about. Now, it was a Sunday morning and the facility was closed, but the 'Rocket Park' was outside the compound's fence so it was not a problem getting a chance to see what was on display. In addition to a lot of old test engines, they had on display many more recognizable items, like a section of a Minuteman Missile:

October 2009 (Sony A100)

And of course, a Shuttle booster:

October 2009 (Sony A100)

Including one of the sections that made-up the of the booster's body:

October 2009 (Sony A100)

And you could clearly see the grooves where the O-Rings were installed:

October 2009 (Sony A100)

Of course, the informational placard made no mention of the aforementioned O-Ring grooves or their significance:

October 2009 (Sony A100)

Anyway, it was a very interesting display and while they didn't highlight the issues with the O-Rings, they also didn't hide these items, and of course, any 'geeky' engineer who stopped by to see what was with this 'Rocket Park', out in the middle of nowhere, would know exactly what he or she was looking at.



John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Diagram of the o-ring section...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[EdStainless]

I used to buy O-rings from a guy that was on the accident investigation for Challenger.
We had some interesting conversations.

Another great museum for space is in Hutchinson KS, Cosmosphere.

https://cosmo.org/

The largest collection of US space hardware outside of the Smithsonian and the largest Russian collection outside of Moscow.
They have the test articles for many of the early satellites.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[Jboggs]

If you guys want to start down a seemingly never-ending road of fascinating information, pick up one of the many books on the engineering history of the Apollo program. My first one was Digital Apollo, all about the development and design of the Apollo computer. I was hooked, I've read probably a dozen more since then. Now I'm into A Man On the Moon by Andrew Chaiken, the book that Tom Hanks' wonderful HBO series, From the Earth to the Moon, was based on.

By the way, in 1957 I was six years old. I remember standing in my grandparents' back yard looking up into the sky to try to see Sputnik. That didn't really work to well. But now I can stand in my front yard and watch the ISS as it passes overhead at night. Amazing!

 

[oldrunner]

My family and I saw the Spudnik a few times - going across the sky - kinda slow. We were living in Pakistan and I was working at Mangla Dam for the contractor. Almost forgot that.