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Projects: Space InformationThe Planetary ReportVolume XXVII, Number 5, September/October 2007
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September/October 2007
Credit: NASA |
In Russian, the word "sputnik" translates to "traveling companion." Despite the friendly name and cute look of this 83-kilogram (184-pound) metal ball with its set of four leg-like antennae, the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957 shocked the world and set in motion events that resulted in the creation of NASA and the race to the Moon. The first artificial satellite, encased in a 56-centimeter (22-inch) sphere, stayed in orbit for 23 days, transmitting a continuous beeping signal to an astounded Earthbound audience.
From The Editor
Let’s change the world.” Bill Nye the Science Guy®, our vice president, seems to end nearly every conversation with those words and, here at The Planetary Society, we’ve adopted the phrase as a kind of mantra.
We know it is possible to change the world, because we’ve seen it done. On October 4, 1957, in a burst of Cold War bravado, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 and changed the world. The Soviets’ reasons may have been entirely mundane, little more than political posturing, but nonetheless, Sputnik opened a new frontier to humanity, gave us a new way to see our world, and challenged us to do it again.
For a brief time after Sputnik, space became an arena in which belief in the future flourished. Yes, nuclear-tipped missiles proliferated around the planet, but at the same time, people were willing to believe the message left, along with human footprints, on the Moon: “We came in peace for all mankind.” A flickering hope ignited that this message on another world would shape the future on Earth.
But we don’t want to spend too much time gazing back at the past. It’s our mission in The Planetary Society to fulfill the hope, still nurtured, for a future among the worlds. You and I, working together, are making sure humanity reaches beyond Sputnik’s realm of Earth orbit. Together, we are changing the world.
—Charlene M. Anderson
Features
The Age of Space -- A Fifty-Year Joyride
by James D. Burke
Out of This World Books
Defining A Global Strategy for Space Exploration
by Louis D. Friedman
Departments
World Watch
We Make It Happen!
Members’ Dialogue
Society News
Questions and Answers
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