Tag: Sputnik
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U.S.-Russian trio returns to Earth from space station on Sputnik anniversary
At the end of its parachute, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft fires its landing pyrotechnic devices as it touches down, bringing a U.S.-Russian crew back to Earth from the International Space Station. (NASA Photo / Bill Ingalls) What better way to celebrate the 61st anniversary of the start of the Space Age than to see the…
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Sputnik at 60: Ambition ties first satellite to SpaceX’s BFR, Mars plans
October 4, 1957: a little 83.6 kg (184 lb) object entered the microgravity environment of Low Earth Orbit. With this unprecedented achievement, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics became the first nation to place an artificial satellite into orbit. Now 60 years after the inauguration of the Space Age, SpaceX has plans to establish a…
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Remembering Sputnik – The satellite that began the Space Race
58 years ago a tiny satellite was successfully lofted into orbit, firing the opening salvo in what would become the Space Race. Sputnik-1 became the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, a trailblazer for thousands of spacecraft that have since ridden uphill while providing the initiator of technological advances that allowed humans to leave the…