Editing Sputnik 2 (section)

== Results==

===Geopolitical impact===
Massing {{cvt|508.3|kg}}, Sputnik 2 marked a dramatic leap in orbital mass over Sputnik 1<ref name=challenge/>{{rp|173}} as well as the American [[Vanguard 1|Vanguard]], which had yet to fly.<ref name=rsp/>{{rp|25}} The day after Sputnik 2 went into orbit the [[Gaither Report|Gaither committee]] met with [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] to brief him on the current situation, demanding an urgent and more dramatic response than to the smaller Sputnik 1.<ref name="race">{{cite book |last=Cox |first=Donald W. |year=1962 |title=The space race; from Sputnik to Apollo, and beyond |url=https://archive.org/details/spaceracefromspu00coxd |url-access=registration |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Chilton Books |lccn=62018224}}</ref>{{rp|26}} It was clear now that the Soviets had missiles far superior to any in the American arsenal,<ref name=drew/> a fact whose demonstration by Sputnik 2 was eagerly propounded by Soviet Premier Khrushchev at every opportunity. In the U.S.S.R., just six days after the launch of Sputnik 2, on the 40th anniversary of the October revolution, Khrushchev boasted in a speech “Now our first Sputnik is not lonely in its space travels.” Nevertheless, unlike most of the U.S., President Eisenhower kept calm through the time afterward just as he did after Sputnik 1 was launched. According to one of the president's aides, “The president's burning concern was to keep the country from going hog-wild and from embarking on foolish, costly schemes.”<ref name="race"/>{{rp|26, 31–32}}

[[File:Photograph of Sputnik 2 taken from Patrick AFB in March 1958.jpg|thumb|Photograph of Sputnik 2 and its rocket taken by Air Force personnel at Air Force Missile Test Center, Patrick AFB, Florida, in March 1958.]]

The mission sparked a debate across the globe on the [[mistreatment of animals]] and [[animal testing]] in general to advance science.<ref name="NLM">{{cite web |url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/animals/laika.html |title=Animals as Cold Warriors: Missiles, Medicine and Man's Best Friend |publisher=National Library of Medicine |date=19 June 2006 |access-date=28 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006132551/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/animals/laika.html |archive-date=6 October 2015 |url-status=live |mode=cs2 }}</ref> In the United Kingdom, the [[Dogs Trust|National Canine Defence League]] called on all dog owners to observe a minute's silence on each day Laika remained in space, while the [[Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] (RSPCA) received protests even before [[Radio Moscow]] had finished announcing the launch. [[Animal rights]] groups at the time called on members of the public to protest at Soviet embassies.<ref name="BBCold">{{citation |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/3/newsid_3191000/3191083.stm |title=On this day |publisher=BBC |date=3 November 1957 |access-date=26 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008161445/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/3/newsid_3191000/3191083.stm |archive-date=8 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Others demonstrated outside the United Nations in New York.{{r|NLM}} Laboratory researchers in the [[United States|U.S]]. offered some support for the Soviets, at least before the news of Laika's death.<ref name="NLM"/><ref name="NSMR">{{cite web |url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/animals/images/laika7Big.jpg |title=Human Guinea Pigs and Sputnik 2 |publisher=National Society for Medical Research |date=November 1957 |access-date=28 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520210547/http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/animals/images/laika7Big.jpg |archive-date=20 May 2015 |url-status=live |mode=cs2 }}
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===Experimental data===
The cosmic ray detector transmitted for one week, going silent on 9 November when its battery was exhausted. The experiment reported unexpected results the day after launch, noting an increase in high-energy charged particles from a normal 18 pulses/sec to 72 pulses/sec at the highest latitudes of its orbit. Per two articles in the Soviet newspaper [[Pravda]], the particle flux increased with altitude as well. It is likely that Sputnik 2 was detecting the lower levels of the [[Van Allen Belt]] when it reached the [[apogee]] of its orbit. However, because Sputnik 2 telemetry could only be received when it was flying over the Soviet Union, the data set was insufficient to draw conclusions, particularly as, most of the time, Sputnik 2 traveled below the Belt.<ref name="race"/>{{rp|32}} Additional observational data had been received by Australian observers when the satellite was overhead, and Soviet scientists asked them for it. The secrecy-minded Soviets were not willing to give the Australians the code that would give them the ability to descramble and use the data themselves. As a result, the Australians declined to turn over their data.<ref name=physicstoday>{{cite journal|url=https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/70/12/46/904087/Discovering-Earth-s-radiation-beltsSix-decades|title=Discovering Earth's radiation belts|author1=Daniel N. Baker|author2=Mikhail I. Panasyuk|journal=Physics Today |date=1 December 2017|volume=70 |issue=12 |pages=46–51 |doi=10.1063/PT.3.3791 |bibcode=2017PhT....70l..46B |accessdate=1 October 2023}}</ref> Thus, the Soviet Union missed out on its chance to get credit for the scientific discovery, which ultimately went to James Van Allen of the State University of Iowa, whose experiments on [[Explorer 1]] and [[Explorer 3]] first mapped the radiation belts that now bear his name.<ref name=VanAllen>{{cite book|title=The Exploration of Space|chapter=The Geomagnetically Trapped Corpuscular Particles|author=James Van Allen|editor=Robert Jastrow|date=1960|publisher=The MacMillan Company|location=New York|oclc=853599}}</ref>

As for the ultraviolet and X-ray photometers, they  were calibrated such that they were oversaturated by orbital radiation, returning no usable data.<ref name="race"/>{{rp|32}}