Headline Oct. 25/ ''' RUSSIA'S -60YEARS- SPUTNIK! '''

''' RUSSIA'S -60YEARS- SPUTNIK! '''

THE WORLD STUDENTS SOCIETY  -* For every conceivable subject in the  World*, belongs to every single student of Russia: 

One Share-Piece-Peace............

Just as it belongs to every single student in the world.  *One Share-Piece-Peace*. See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society and ofcourse, Twitter-!E-WOW! -the Ecosystem 2011:

IN 1957, -THE SOVIETS launched the world's first artificial satellite into orbit -and set off a Cold War space race...........

CHICAGO ON OCT 4, 1957 -60 years ago...... -millions of bewildered Americans raised their heads to the sky observe a moving object that looked- like a star and appeared every 90 minutes.

IT WAS SPUTNIK, the first artificial earth satellite, launched that day by the Soviet Union. It opened a new era of space exploration and a new front in the Cold War. 

Its story begins in March 1950, when a group of  American scientists decided declare an  International Geophysical Year to promote an exchange of ideas and discuss international scientific projects.

The ''year'' ran from July 1, 1957 to Dec.31, 1958, because that was expected to be a period of maximum solar activity.

In July 1955, the Eisenhower administration announced that the American contribution to the effort would be launching several small, earth-orbiting satellites.

Four days later, the Soviets announced that they, too, would launch a satellite soon. Within a month, Moscow had a commission developing a program that would beat the Americans into orbit.

*Washington may not have realized it yet, but the space race had begun*.

Focused on maintaining an edge in the military application of rocket science the Eisenhower administration had little interest in satellite launch and considered it a purely scientific affair.

It proceeded cautiously, studying the legality of a satellite fight over Soviet territory and avoiding the use of military rockets to avoid giving Moscow any pretext for accusing the United States of a provocation.

As a result, the administration chose the untried Vanguard rocket, designed for research launches, rather than a tested Jupiter-C military rocket.

The Soviets had no such restraints and quickly understood the propaganda value of such a launch.

In contrast to Washington, Moscow quickly prioritized the launch, devoted enormous resources to the project -and made the space program a closely guarded state secret.

An initial design for a more ambitious satellite with several scientific instruments aboard proved too much of a challenge, and the Soviets moved toward developing the simplest possible satellite.

The original launch was scheduled for April 1958. But when it became known that the Americans  were scheduled to make public a paper titled-

''Satellite Over the Planet'' at the International Geophysical Year in conference in Washington on Oct 6, 1957-

The Soviets assumed that the Americans would launch their satellite a few days ahead of the gathering.

With a pressing sense of urgency, the Kremlin pressed its scientists to expedite the launch. 

On Oct. 4, despite a touch-and-go launch with some nerve racking malfunctions, the Soviet rocket  lifted off and placed the first artificial satellite into the earth's orbit

Sputnik [''satellite'' in Russian] was a small ball about 2 feet in diameter and weighing less that 200 pounds. 

It was equipped with a radio transmitter emitting distinct beeping sounds that quickly captured the attention of the entire world.

In particular it was a wake-up call for the United States.   

The Soviets had kept their intentions secret to the vary end. On the day of the launch, the Soviet Embassy in Washington held a reception for the participants of the international conference aimed at- coordinating the satellite launches. 

During the reception, the head of the American delegation suddenly announced that  The New York Times had just informed him  that a satellite had been sent into orbit.

He congratulated his Soviet Colleagues, who had broken into triumphal wide grins when just a moment earlier that had professed ignorance of any Soviet launch.

The Honor and Serving of History as *Operational Research* continues. And with much appreciation for Professor Michael Khodarkovsky of the department of History at Layola University Chicago.

With respectful dedication to President Vladimir Putin, Students, Professors and Teachers of Russia, and then the world.

See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Sputnik - !WOW! '''

Good Night and God Bless

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