And thus began the Space Age
I am really tied up with my B-school applications, but I just had to take time out to post this one!
On this day exactly half a century ago, mankind set out on a quest to explore the final frontier. The USSR launched the Sputnik 1, earth’s first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957. It was the era of the Cold War, and this launch started the space race between USA and USSR. Here’s the front page of The New York Times announcing the launch of Sptunik 1:
The mission of Sputnik 1 was to study the density of high atmospheric layers. It fell from orbit on January 4, 1958 and burnt up after completing 1440 orbits. Those 3 months were by far the most important period in the history of space exploration, and set the stage for man’s foray into space.
