Sputnik 1
| Sputnik 1 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase : F / Status : burned out | |||||||
 Image from Sputnik 1 |
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| Type: | Demonstration satellite | ||||||
| Country: |
 Soviet Union
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| COSPAR designation : | 1957-001B | ||||||
| NORAD / SCN-ID : | 2 | ||||||
| Mission dates | |||||||
| Start date: | October 4, 1957, 19:28:34 UTC | ||||||
| Starting place: | Baikonur 1 | ||||||
| Launcher: | Sputnik (8K71PS) | ||||||
| Mission duration: | 92 days | ||||||
| End date: | 4th January 1958 | ||||||
| Orbit data | |||||||
| Origin of coordinates: | earth | ||||||
| Rotation time : | 96.2 min | ||||||
| Apogee : | 939 km | ||||||
| Perigee : | 215 km | ||||||
| Eccentricity : | 0.052 | ||||||
| Orbit inclination : | 65.1 ° | ||||||
| General spacecraft data | |||||||
| Takeoff mass: | 83.6 kg | ||||||
| Dimensions: | Diameter: 58 cm | ||||||
| Manufacturer: | NPO Energia | ||||||
| Others | |||||||
| Subsequent mission: |
Sputnik 2 | ||||||
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Sputnik 1 ( Russian Спутник for companion , companion, Trabant (of the earth ) ) was the first artificial earth satellite , launched on October 4, 1957.
The satellite had been announced by the Soviet Union for the course of the International Geophysical Year (IGY 1957-58), but Western experts did not expect the Soviet developments to be completed until mid-1958 and were surprised by the launch. The launch also raised concerns among the Western public; these were named with the term Sputnik shock .
It burned up on January 4, 1958, 92 days after takeoff, when it reentered deeper layers of the earth's atmosphere.
development
On July 29, 1955, US President Eisenhower commissioned the development of an American earth satellite, whereupon the USSR announced a similar development four days later, on August 2, 1955. This was seen by parts of the world as a propaganda coup, which was supposed to be a demonstration of the “superiority of the Marxist- scientific system over capitalism ” (communication in autumn 1955).
The successful launch on October 4, 1957 at 19:28:34 GMT (October 5, local time) from launch pad 1 in Baikonur ( Kazakh SSR ) surprised everyone. The launch vehicle Sputnik of the satellite was a further development of military ICBMs by the designer Sergei Koroljow .
The performance of Soviet missiles was an additional cause for concern for politicians and military officials in the Western world. The political climate between the great powers USA and USSR had deteriorated in the previous years (see Korean War June 1950 – July 1953 , arms race , nuclear weapon tests , August 1953: first hydrogen bomb of the USSR ). By the end of the Cold War in 1989 , there was massive investment in weapons - defensive weapons, offensive weapons and weapons of mass destruction .
As it became known much later in the West, a research satellite designated as Object D (later known as Sputnik 3 ) with extensive scientific equipment and a weight of around 1300 kilograms was originally supposed to make the start. Its development goes back to a report on artificial earth satellites that Korolev submitted to the then Defense Minister Dmitri Ustinov on May 26, 1954 . The actual plans come from a friend of Korolev's, Mikhail Tikhonrawov , who had been working on the possibility of an earth satellite since 1947 and was able to inspire Korolev at an early stage. Together with Mstislav Keldysch , Valentin Gluschko and Mikhail Lavrentiev , they managed to get permission to build the satellite on January 30, 1956. Its development came as a purely civilian project, however sluggish, as it was considered unimportant by influential positions in the government and military, even if Nikita Khrushchev joined the project during a visit in February 1956 in one experimental design office no. (OKB-1) in Kaliningrad near Moscow , where Korolev showed him a model, was not averse.
It was also crucial that the rocket available at that time was not yet powerful enough to carry a satellite of this mass into space. The announcement by Eisenhower in 1955 and the launch of a Jupiter-C on September 20, 1956 suggested to Korolev that the Americans could forestall him. So, without further ado , he proposed the construction of two simple satellites (PS 1 and PS 2, prostoi sputnik = simple satellite) as an interim solution , which was approved by the responsible authorities (the approval for construction was probably granted on November 25, 1956 and for launch on November 5, 1956 . Issued January 1957). After only a few weeks of development and construction under personal supervision by Korolev, the satellites were ready. The launch of PS 1 was scheduled for October 6, 1957, but was brought forward by two days (again because of Korolev's fears that the Americans might get ahead of him).
Design and technology
This Sputnik - later synonymous with all Soviet satellites, including the Kosmos series and other " Sputniks " - weighed 83.6 kilograms, five times more than the US Explorer 1 from January 31, 1958, and was 58 cm in shape diameter after an Korolev initially submitted cylindrical design was rejected by the chief designer Khomyakov - he asked for a planet-like appearance. According to other sources, Korolev himself called for the spherical shape, although colleagues preferred a conical shape that would have fit better into the tip of the rocket.
The sphere was carefully polished, above all to avoid overheating from solar radiation, it was also easier to see that way - by measuring the orbit with telescopes, they wanted to determine the rate of descent and from that data about the density of the remaining atmosphere at the altitude of the Win satellites.
The tightly screwed hemispheres of the capsule consisted of two millimeter thick sheet metal made of an aluminum alloy , the front hemisphere carried a sheet of heat protection outside the hermetic capsule , from which the two pairs of antennas (each 2.4 and 2.9 meters long) protruded. After being separated from the carrier, the four antenna rods were swiveled out with a spring mechanism and assumed their angle of 35 ° to the axis. Antennas were required that deliver a constant signal regardless of rotation.
The satellite carried two type D 200 radio transmitters . They transmitted one watt of power on shortwave and ultra- shortwave at the frequencies 20.005 and 40.002 MHz for 21 days. The switching of the transmitters was unknown for a long time. In an article for the Russian magazine "Radio No. 4 2013", radio amateur Boris Stepanow, RU3AX, describes the structure of the transmitter based on a report from 1958. The two-stage transmitters each use three sub-miniature tubes of the 2П19Б type ( directly heated HF pentode ). The first stage is a crystal oscillator , the output signal of which controls a push-pull output stage . As a special feature, it is worth mentioning that the heating filaments of the battery tubes , which were actually intended for parallel operation , were connected in series . In the event that a tube had failed due to a broken filament, the transmitter would have switched itself off completely and the other transmitter could have drawn energy from the battery for longer.
The two transmitters were switched on and off alternately with a relay, the switching frequency increased for unknown reasons in the first few days in orbit and was around 2 Hz. There were thermal switches and a pressure switch, they had switching points at> 50 ° C / < 0 ° C or <0.35 bar (the capsule was filled with 1.3 bar nitrogen) and should change the sequence of the transmission pulses when they respond. Based on the so detectable pressure drop z. B. possible damage to the outer shell by micrometeorites can be determined. However, the switches did not switch - the temperature and pressure values remained within the normal range.
The only energy supply available, the silver-zinc accumulators , used as a heating battery 7.5 V / 140 Ah and as an anode battery 130 V / 30 Ah with taps at 90 V, 20 V and 10 V, were designed for a service life of 14 days, weighed 50 kg and thus about 60% of the total mass.
The DTK 34 heat regulation system consisted of a special fan and a temperature switch. The internal temperature was thus kept between 20 and 30 ° C.
Several copies were built in the OKB-1 in Kaliningrad near Moscow .
Orbit
The orbit of Sputnik 1 initially ran in an orbit inclined by 65.1 ° to the Earth's equator with an altitude between 215 and 939 km (see peri- and apogee ) and an orbit time of 96.2 min. Due to the braking effect of the ionosphere - the density and upper limit of which had been greatly underestimated until then - the kinetic energy of the satellite and thus its orbit height fell continuously. After 92 days, Sputnik 1 entered the denser atmospheric layers and burned up on January 4, 1958.
The initially strongly elliptical flight path and the flight altitude had the following main reasons:
- The control technology for rockets was not yet sufficiently mastered . In order to maintain the planned orbit height with an accuracy of only 100 km, the actual final speed of the top rocket stage must not deviate more than a few per thousand from the target value.
- The scientists wanted to research the outermost atmosphere and geophysical effects not just at one altitude, but at different orbit heights .
- Since a fuel pump in the engine of the carrier was no longer regulating and failed about 1 s before the burnout, Sputnik 1 remained about 80 km below the planned flight altitude.
The large orbit inclination of 65.1 ° required a greater energy expenditure than the choice of the orbit ellipse: With a satellite launch, the launcher gets a share of the earth's rotation depending on the latitude of the launch site - at the equator at least 465 m / s or 6% of the launch speed ( 7.5 kilometers per second). This speed can only be used when taking off in an easterly direction - the usual take-off direction for spacecraft for this reason - in order to save fuel and thus take-off mass. The further away from the equator a take-off takes place, the lower the usable speed of the earth's surface becomes. Here the USA had a small advantage over the Soviet Union, namely the smaller geographical latitude of the locations of their launching pads.
Another advantage of greater orbital inclinations is that a satellite covers a larger area of the earth's surface than with orbital inclinations close to the equator. In addition, the great apogee height of almost 1000 km above earth also had the propagandistic side effect of astonishing the world public who were not familiar with celestial mechanics (see first reason). After all, such a great height sounds much more impressive than z. B. the height of 200 km required for a stable path, although the energy expenditure to reach these paths hardly differs.
Signal and observation
Sputnik had a transmitter with a power of 1 watt, which alternately sent short signals at 20.005 and 40.002 MHz that provided information about temperature and pressure. The signals of the Sputnik were received by radio amateurs and research stations all over the world and refuted the previous assumptions about the structure of the earth's atmosphere at great heights. In Western Europe , an astronomer was able to announce the first success: Heinz Kaminski from the Bochum public observatory . The good press and the many inquiries that were associated with this success in the first days of space travel contributed significantly to the emergence of the later Bochum Institute for Space Technology .
The first known observation of Sputnik 1 in Central Europe took place on October 8, 1957 at the Rodewisch school observatory in Saxony. The first photograph of the Sputnik launch vehicle was taken there on October 13, 1957. The DEFA produced on these events the documentary short film The first saw the Sputnik , which was released in theaters on November 25, 1960th
Worldwide evaluation
The "Sputnik shock"
The fact of the first Sputnik launch made it clear to the world that the Soviet Union was now able to use its missiles not only to reach space but also any point on earth. This created a sense of threat in parts of the western world because Soviet ICBMs appeared to be superior to those of the US. However, the American President Dwight D. Eisenhower used the Sputnik shock primarily to renew the American education system, which was perceived as unjust. The Republican ex-general did not take a military threat seriously, which was exploited by his campaign opponent and successor John F. Kennedy , who used an alleged missile gap as a campaign topic.
The somewhat different reactions of many scientists summarized Dr. Hynek from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in the following words: “… a strange mixture of awe, admiration, and fear - the last enhanced, of course - because there had been no warning” . In the first few days, the observatory received hundreds of letters and phone calls, because some even expected a Russian satellite atomic bomb.
consequences
The word Sputnik is one of the hundred words considered especially indicative of the twentieth century.
For the technical-professional education policy had Sputnik shock very positive consequences: it not only resulted in industry and administration to restructuring, but also in many schools and colleges to initiatives of observation - and space technology and establishing numerous clubs and measurement programs on space and astronomy interested laypeople.
In many countries - especially in the former Soviet Union, in the USA and in the GDR - study programs and school subjects for astronomy were developed. In the USA the Moonwatch organization of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory was established for the precise optical observation of earth satellites, on which around 200 observation teams participated until 1975 (ten of them in the Federal Republic of Germany and three in Austria ). Similar groups emerged in the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and Japan.
Trivia
In many countries, there were series of radio programs on space issues - and of course science fiction films and books.
Based on these satellites orbiting the earth, East Berlin's vernacular called the local trains that ran on the Berlin outer ring during the division of Germany and bypassed Berlin (West) as "Sputnik" because the trains circled the western sectors of the city as if on an orbit .
The characteristic word ending -nik was used in the West as a pejorative suffix in words such as beatnik or peacenik.
The MDR youth radio program - formerly youth radio DT64 of the GDR - also bears the name Sputnik . The name was chosen to underline its position as the only MDR satellite radio program at the time.
See also
literature
- Matthew Brzezinski: Red Moon Rising. Bloomsbury Publishing London 2007
- R. Wallisfurth: Russia's way to the moon. Econ-Verlag Düsseldorf-Vienna 1964
- H. Giese: Space technology. BI Paperback 1962.
- Igor J. Polianski ; Matthias Schwartz (ed.): The track of the Sputnik. Cultural-historical expeditions into the cosmic age. Campus Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-593-39042-0 .
Web links
- Raumfahrer.net: Sputnik I - around the world at 80 kilos , June 15, 2002
- Sergei Khrushchev: The making of Sputnik , October 3, 2007 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Sputnik 1 in the NSSDCA Master Catalog , accessed on September 21, 2012 (English).
- ↑ from путь ( put ) "the way"; the name comes from Konstantin Eduardowitsch Ziolkowski
- ↑ a b Korolev and Freedom of Space: February 14, 1955 – October 4, 1957. In: hq.nasa.gov. Retrieved September 1, 2016 .
- ↑ Anatoly Zak: Sputnik design. October 2, 2007, accessed September 21, 2012 .
- ↑ Flieger Revue 10/2007, ISSN 0941-889X
- ↑ a b c Reconsidering Sputnik - Forty Years since the Sovjet Satellite , Symposium at the Smithsonian Institution / Washington, DC, September 30 to November 1, 1997, accessed on November 23, 2017
- ↑ Boris Stepanow: Radio No. 4 / 2013. Retrieved on April 18, 2014 (Russian).
- ↑ Anatoli Zak: Sputnik Design. In: russianspaceweb.com. October 6, 2016, accessed May 10, 2017 .
- ↑ The ghost satellite. In: Der Spiegel. January 15, 1958, pp. 43-44 , accessed May 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Minor Planet Circulars , Issues 41805-42426. International Astronomical Union , Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics , page 2432 in the digitized version of the University of Michigan, March 19, 2010 ( online ).
- ↑ Those who saw Sputnik first in the DEFA Foundation's film database , accessed on August 3, 2019.
- ^ N. Hayes: Trackers of the Skies , p.53. SAO 1968
