Editing Sputnik 1 (section)

=== Observation complex ===
PS-1 was not designed to be controlled; it could only be observed. Initial data at the launch site would be collected at six separate observatories and telegraphed to [[NII-4]].<ref name="NKA">{{cite web|url=http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/content/numbers/237/36.shtml|trans-title=Creation and Launch of the First Earth's Satellite|author=V.Poroshkov|publisher=Novosti Kosmonavtiki|script-title=ru:Создание и запуск Первого спутника Земли|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606033433/http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/content/numbers/237/36.shtml|archive-date=6 June 2011}}</ref> Located back in Moscow (at [[Yubileyny, Moscow Oblast|Bolshevo]]), NII-4 was a scientific research arm of the [[Ministry of Defence (Soviet Union)|Ministry of Defence]] that was dedicated to missile development.<ref>Siddiqi, p. 39.</ref> The six observatories were clustered around the launch site, with the closest situated {{convert|1|km|abbr=on}} from the launch pad.<ref name="NKA" />

A second, nationwide observation complex was established to track the satellite after its separation from the rocket. Called the Command-Measurement Complex, it consisted of the coordination center in NII-4 and seven distant stations situated along the line of the satellite's [[ground track]].<ref name="Siddiqi162">Siddiqi, p. 162.</ref> These tracking stations were located at [[Tyuratam]], [[Sary-Shagan]], [[Yeniseysk]], [[Klyuchi, Kamchatka Krai|Klyuchi]], [[Yelizovo]], [[Makat]] in [[Atyrau Province|Guryev Oblast]], and [[Ishkup]] in [[Krasnoyarsk Krai]].<ref name="NKA" /><ref name="Siddiqi162" /> Stations were equipped with [[radar]], optical instruments, and communications systems. Data from stations were transmitted by [[telegraph]]s into NII-4 where [[ballistics]] specialists calculated orbital parameters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nauka.relis.ru/26/0507/26507086.htm|script-title=ru:ИСТОРИЯ ЦУПА: ТРУД, РАДОСТИ, МЫТАРСТВА|trans-title=History of Decoration: Labor, Joy, Treatment|publisher=НАУКА и ЖИЗНЬ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618204538/http://nauka.relis.ru/26/0507/26507086.htm |archive-date=18 June 2008|language=ru}}</ref>

The observatories used a trajectory measurement system called "Tral", developed by [[OKB|OKB MEI]] (Moscow Energy Institute), by which they received and monitored data from [[transponder]]s mounted on the R-7 rocket's core stage.<ref>[http://www.okbmei.ru/upage.html?id=30 Wonderful "Seven" and First Satellites] at the website of OKB MEI {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070903073846/http://www.okbmei.ru/upage.html?id=30 |date=3 September 2007}}</ref> The data were useful even after the satellite's separation from the second stage of the rocket; Sputnik's location was calculated from data on the location of the second stage, which followed Sputnik at a known distance.<ref>[http://rgantd.ru/book_2.php?link=mozjorin Yu.A.Mozzhorin Memories] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018165625/http://rgantd.ru/book_2.php?link=mozjorin |date=18 October 2007}} at the website of Russian state archive for scientific-technical documentation{{in lang|ru}}</ref> Tracking of the booster during launch had to be accomplished through purely passive means, such as visual coverage and radar detection. R-7 test launches demonstrated that the tracking cameras were only good up to an altitude of {{convert|200|km|mi|abbr=on}}, but radar could track it for almost {{convert|500|km|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="rswsputniklv" />

[[File:Bahnspur sputnik 1.jpg|thumb|First ground track of Sputnik 1 on 13 October 1957 4:51 from [[Rodewisch]]|220x175px]]
Outside the Soviet Union, the satellite was tracked by [[amateur radio]] operators in many countries.<ref name="Lovell196">Lovell, p. 196.</ref> The booster rocket was located and tracked by the British using the [[Lovell Telescope]] at the [[Jodrell Bank Observatory]], the only telescope in the world able to do so by radar.<ref name="Lovell196" /> Canada's [[Newbrook Observatory]] was the first facility in North America to photograph Sputnik 1.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8809&pid=0 |title=Newbrook Observatory |author=Canadian Register of Historic Places |year=2015 |publisher=Canada's Historic Places |work=Historicplaces.ca |access-date=29 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030164908/http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8809&pid=0 |archive-date=30 October 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>