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Sputnik Program
Sputnik (Спутник, Russian for "satellite"NOTE: The Russian word "sputnik" can have many meanings: "satellite", "travelling companion", "fellow traveller", etc. However, in astronomy, it means only "satellite".) is a spacecraft launched under the Soviet space program. "Sputnik 1", "Sputnik 2" and "Sputnik 3" were the official Soviet names of those objects, and the remaining designations in the series ("Sputnik 4" and so on) were not official names but names applied in the West to objects whose original Soviet names may not have been known at the time. Spacecraft officially named ''Sputnik'' * Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to go into orbit, launched 4 October 1957 * Sputnik 2, the first spacecraft to carry a living animal (the dog Laika) into orbit, launched 3 November 1957 * Sputnik 3, a research satellite launched 15 May 1958 Spacecraft with names containing ''Sputnik'' Being the Russian term for "satellite", the word ''Sputnik'' has appeared in the names of ...
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Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries ran out, and continued in orbit for three months until aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958. It was a polished metal sphere in diameter with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses. Its radio signal was easily detectable by amateur radio operators, and the 65° orbital inclination made its flight path cover virtually the entire inhabited Earth. The satellite's unanticipated success precipitated the American Sputnik crisis and triggered the Space Race, part of the Cold War. The launch was the beginning of a new era of political, military, technological and scientific developments. The word ''sputnik'' is Russian for ''satellite'' whe ...
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Kosmos 6
Kosmos 6 (russian: Космос 6 meaning ''Cosmos 6''), also known as DS-P1 No.1 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 16 was a prototype radar target satellite for anti-ballistic missile tests, which was launched by the Soviet Union in 1962. Spacecraft It was the sixth satellite to be designated under the Kosmos system, and the second spacecraft launched as part of the DS programme to successfully reach orbit, after Kosmos 1. It had a mass of . Its primary mission was to demonstrate the necessary technologies for radar tracking of spacecraft, which would allow future satellites to function as targets. It was the first solar-powered satellite manufactured by Yuzhnoye. Mission It was launched aboard the seventh flight of the Kosmos-2I 63S1 rocket. The launch was conducted from Mayak-2 at Kapustin Yar, and occurred at 16:00:00 GMT on 30 June 1962. Kosmos 6 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of , an apogee of ...
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Kosmos 5
Kosmos 5 (russian: Космос 5 meaning ''Cosmos 5''), also known as 2MS #2 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 15 was a scientific research and technology demonstration satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1962. It was the fifth satellite to be designated under the Kosmos system, and the third spacecraft to be launched as part of the MS programme, after Kosmos 2 and Kosmos 3. Its primary missions were to develop systems for future satellites, and to record data about artificial radiation around the Earth. Spacecraft Kosmos 5 was a 2MS satellite, the second of two to be launched, following the first which was launched as Kosmos 3 on 24 April 1962. The 2MS was the second of two types of MS satellite to be launched, following the first 1MS spacecraft which had been launched as Kosmos 2. Kosmos 5 was the penultimate MS satellite to be launched, and the last to successfully reach orbit. The last launch attempt, of a 1MS satellite, occurred on 25 October 1962, and f ...
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Kosmos 4
Kosmos 4 (russian: Космос 4 meaning ''Kosmos 4''), also known as Zenit-2 No.2 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 14 was the first Soviet reconnaissance satellite to successfully reach orbit. Spacecraft Kosmos 4 was a Zenit-2 satellite, a first generation, low resolution reconnaissance satellite derived from the Vostok spacecraft used for crewed flights. It was the fourth satellite to be designated under the Kosmos system, and the second Soviet attempt to launch a reconnaissance satellite, the previous attempt having failed after one of the Vostok-K engines shut down prematurely, on 11 December 1961. Kosmos 4 had a mass of . Launch It was launched on a Vostok-K rocket, which was making its seventh flight. It was the last Zenit launch to use the Vostok-K, before launches switched to the Vostok-2 starting with the next launch attempt in June 1962. The launch was conducted from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and occurred at 10:02 GMT on 26 April 1962. Kosm ...
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Kosmos 3
Kosmos 3 (russian: Космос 3 meaning ''Cosmos 3''), also known as 2MS No.1 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 13 was a scientific research and technology demonstration satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1962. Spacecraft It was the third satellite to be designated under the Kosmos system, and the first spacecraft to be launched as part of the 2MS programme. Its primary missions were to develop systems for future satellites, and to record data about cosmic rays and radiation. Kosmos 3, an automatic geophysical station, was one of a series of Soviet Earth satellites whose purpose was to study outer space, the upper layers of the atmosphere, and the Earth. Scientific data and measurements were relayed to Earth by multichannel telemetry systems equipped with space-borne memory units. It had a mass of 330 kg. Mission It was launched aboard Kosmos-2I 63S1 s/n 4LK. It was the fifth flight of the Kosmos-2I, and the third to successfully reach orbit. The launch ...
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Kosmos 2
Kosmos 2 (russian: Космос 2 meaning ''Cosmos 2''), also known as 1MS No.1 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 12 was a technology demonstration and a scientific research satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1962. It was the second satellite to be designated under the Kosmos system, and the first spacecraft to be launched as part of the MS programme. Spacecraft Its primary missions were to develop systems for future satellites, and to record data about cosmic rays and radiation. It had a mass of 285 kg. Mission It was launched aboard Kosmos-2I 63S1 s/n 5LK. It was the fourth flight of the Kosmos-2I, and the second to successfully reach orbit. The launch was conducted from Mayak-2 at Kapustin Yar, and occurred at 17:16:00 GMT on 6 April 1962. Kosmos 2 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of , an apogee of , an inclination of 49.0°, and an orbital period of 102.5 minutes. It decayed on 20 August 1963. Kosmos 2 was a 1MS satellite, the fi ...
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Kosmos 1
Kosmos 1 (russian: Космос 1 meaning ''Cosmos 1''), also known as DS-2 No.1 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 11 was a technology demonstration and ionospheric research satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1962. It was the first satellite to be designated under the Kosmos system, and the first spacecraft launched as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme to successfully reach orbit. History Kosmos 1 was a DS-2 satellite, the first of two to be launched. The second, ''DS-2 No.2'', was launched on 1 December 1964, but did not reach orbit after the payload fairing of the launch vehicle carrying it failed to separate. The DS-2 was a scaled-down version of the earlier DS-1 satellite, without the cylindrical section for avionics, which was built after the first two DS-1 spacecraft failed, ''DS-1 No.1'' on 27 October 1961, and ''DS-1 No.2'' on 21 December 1961, to reach orbit. Spacecraft Its primary missions were to measure the performance of its launch v ...
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Korabl-Sputnik 5
Korabl-Sputnik 5 (russian: Корабль-Спутник 5 meaning ''Ship-Satellite 5'') or Vostok-3KA No.2, also known as Sputnik 10 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft which was launched in 1961, as part of the Vostok programme. It was the last test flight of the Vostok spacecraft design prior the first crewed flight, Vostok 1. It carried the mannequin Ivan Ivanovich, a dog named Zvezdochka ("Starlet",Siddiqi, p267 or "Little star"), television cameras and scientific apparatus. Background A spacecraft of the design ''Vostok 3KA'' had only been launched once before, which was on March 9, 1961. This mission was called Korabl-Sputnik 4, and it was a complete success.Siddiqi, p.266 Prior to Korabl-Sputnik 4, the two previous missions in the Vostok programme were both launched in December 1960, and both ended in failure. Only days before the launch of Korabl-Sputnik 5, the cosmonaut team, which consisted of 20 men, experienced its first fatality. Cosmonaut candidate Valentin Bond ...
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Korabl-Sputnik 4
Korabl-Sputnik 4 (russian: Корабль-Спутник 4 meaning ''Ship-Satellite 4'') or Vostok-3KA No.1, also known as Sputnik 9 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft which was launched on 9 March 1961. Carrying the mannequin Ivan Ivanovich, a dog named Chernushka, some mice and the first guinea pig in space, it was a test flight of the Vostok spacecraft. Korabl-Sputnik 4 was launched at 06:29:00 UTC on 9 March 1961, atop a Vostok-K carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was successfully placed into low Earth orbit. The spacecraft was only intended to complete a single orbit, so it was deorbited shortly after launch, and reentered on its first pass over the Soviet Union. It landed at 08:09:54 UTC, and was successfully recovered. During the descent, the mannequin was ejected from the spacecraft in a test of its ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft ...
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Venera 1
''Venera 1'' (russian: Венера-1 meaning ''Venus 1''), also known as Venera-1VA No.2 and occasionally in the West as ''Sputnik 8'' was the first spacecraft to fly past Venus, as part of the Soviet Union's Venera programme. Launched in February 1961, it flew past Venus on 19 May of the same year; however, radio contact with the probe was lost before the flyby, resulting in it returning no data. Spacecraft ''Venera 1'' was a probe consisting of a cylindrical body in diameter topped by a dome, totalling in height. This was pressurized to with dry nitrogen, with internal fans to maintain even distribution of heat. Two solar panels extended from the cylinder, charging a bank of silver-zinc batteries. A 2-metre parabolic wire-mesh antenna was designed to send data from Venus to Earth on a frequency of 922.8 MHz. A 2.4-metre antenna boom was used to transmit short-wave signals during the near-Earth phase of the mission. Semidirectional quadrupole antennas mounted on t ...
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Korabl-Sputnik 3
Korabl-Sputnik 3 (russian: Корабль-Спутник 3 meaning ''Ship-Satellite 3'') or Vostok-1K No.3, also known as Sputnik 6 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft which was launched in 1960. It was a test flight of the Vostok spacecraft, carrying two dogs; Pcholka and Mushka ("little bee" and "little fly"; affectionate diminutives of "pchela" and "mukha", respectively), as well as a television camera and scientific instruments. Korabl-Sputnik 3 was launched at 07:30:04 UTC on 1 December 1960, atop a Vostok-L carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was successfully placed into low Earth orbit. The flight lasted one day, after which the spacecraft was deorbited ahead of its planned recovery. The deorbit burn began at 07:15 UTC on 2 December, however the engine did not cut off as planned at the end of the burn, and instead the spacecraft's fuel burned to depletion. This resulted in it reentering the atmosphere on a trajectory which might have permitt ...
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