2. The launch vehicle that put sputnik into orbit. The Launch Vehicle that put sputnik into orbit was made from the Soviet R-7 Ballistic Missile. The Launch Vehicle Korolev (A Soviet engineer) was the brains behind the R-7 Ballistic missile which in return created the most used and reliable rockets in spaceflight history. To put sputnik into orbit took major power. It was made from an R-7 missile but it took four tapered booster stages each containing four RD-108 rockets. All the engines used liquid oxygen and kerosene. During accent, the boosters were jettisoned leaving the core to place the Sputnik satellite into orbit. Info by the Encyclopedia of Science.

3. The first man made satellite put into orbit. Sputnik was the first shot in the space race between the U.S and the Soviet Union. This Satellite was only basketball sized and it only weighed about 183 pounds. It orbited the earth sending back a beeping signal for twenty three days. It orbited the earth about every 98 minutes. It was launched October fourth 1957. A month later Sputnik 2 was launched with the first living thing in orbit. It was launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The U.S did not respond with Explorer One until one year later. “Sputnik” means “companion”. Satellite in astronomical sense. Click here for more information on Sputnik.

4. Dog in training. The First men and women that wanted to travel into space depended on the sacrifices of animals to ensure their safety before we sent humans beyond earths atmosphere. They started out small with mice and hamsters but the dogs were the true test. Laika was the first dog sent into orbit and he went up on life support. Laika was also known as “Little curley Russian”. She Survived in orbit at an altitude near two thousand miles. She had little room in the satellite but had access to food and water. She was hooked up to electrodes that transmitted her vitals back to the lab.

5. Some of the monkeys wore these as pants when they were sent into orbit. After dogs monkeys were the next animal that we sent up into orbit. Some of the types of monkeys that were sent up were, Rhesus, Cynomolgus, Squirrel, Pig-Tailed, and some chimpanzees. Most monkeys were anesthetized before lift off. 32 different monkeys flew into orbit each with a different mission. Many other monkeys went through the space program but never actually flew. Monkeys are thought to be one of the most intelligent animals on planet earth. Scientists thought they would be as close as it would come to sending a human up into orbit. Click here for more info on space monkeys.

6. Martin David, “Sputnik” Solar System Exploration. 14 Mar. 2009. NASA. Phil Davis. 25 Feb. 2010 http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?Sort=Chron&StartYea r=1950&EndYear=1959&MCode=Sputnik Darling David. “Sputnik Launch Vehicle” Encyclopedia of Science. Jan 10 2010. The Worlds of David Darling. David Darling. 25 Feb 2010. http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/S/Sputnik_launch_vehicl e.html Curtis Anthony, “Russian Dogs Lost In Space” Space Today Online. 22 Dec. 2009. NASA. Curtis Anthony. 25 Feb. 2010 http://www.spacetoday.org/Astronauts/Animals/Dogs.html “Monkeys in space -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 25 Feb. 2010..