CHAPTER 1 THE SPACE RACE BEGINS On October 4 1957 the Soviet Union launched a basketball sized object into orbit around Earth Known as Sputnik 1 this satellite was the first human made object sent into space News of the launch shocked people in the United States At the time the United States and the Soviet Union were racing to build the most nuclear weapons Each country was eager to show its dominance Sputnik 1 had several antennas that sent radio signals down to Earth
By the 1950s the competition had turned toward space It became known as the Space Race The United States had announced its plan to put a satellite into orbit in 1955 But the country's engineers had yet to succeed With the launch of Sputnik 1 the United States was suddenly lagging behind People feared that the Soviet Union might launch nuclear missiles next A month later the Soviet Union launched a second satellite Sputnik 2 carried a dog named Laika She was the first living being from Earth to orbit the planet However scientists had no way to bring her back to Earth so she died in space The United States tried to launch a satellite in December 1957 But on the day of the launch the rocket failed It rose a few feet off the launchpad and exploded in a ball of fire The satellite fell off the rocket and rolled away
The Soviet Union sent Laika to space aboard Sputnik 2 on November 3 1957 The United States finally sent a satellite to space in January 1958 Explorer 1 was launched aboard a Juno I rocket It orbited Earth and collected data about Earth's atmosphere The satellite measured cosmic rays and atmospheric temperatures It also studied micrometeorites These particles from space are small enough to enter Earth's atmosphere This information helped scientists learn more about Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field
