Editing Space Race (section)

=== Sputnik ===
[[File:Sputnik-stamp-ussr.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Soviet stamp commemorating Sputnik 1, 1957]]
Korolev received word about von Braun's 1956 Jupiter-C test and, mistakenly thinking it was a satellite mission that failed, expedited plans to get his own satellite in orbit. Since the R-7 was substantially more powerful than any of the US [[launch vehicle]]s, he made sure to take full advantage of this capability by designing [[Sputnik 3|Object D]] as his primary satellite.{{sfn|Cadbury|2006|pp=154–57}} It was given the designation 'D', to distinguish it from other R-7 payload designations 'A', 'B', 'V', and 'G' which were nuclear weapon payloads.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2003a|p=151}} Object D dwarfed the proposed US satellites, having a weight of {{convert|1400|kg|lb|sp=us}}, of which {{convert|300|kg|lb|sp=us}} would be composed of scientific instruments that would photograph the Earth, take readings on radiation levels, and check on the planet's magnetic field.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2003a|p=151}} However, things were not going along well with the design and manufacturing of the satellite, so in February 1957, Korolev sought and received permission from the Council of Ministers to build a ''Prosteishy Sputnik'' (PS-1), or simple satellite.{{sfn|Cadbury|2006|pp=154–57}} The council also decreed that Object D be postponed until April 1958.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2003a|p=155}} The new ''Sputnik'' was a metallic sphere that would be a much lighter craft, weighing {{convert|83.8|kg|lb|sp=us}} and having a {{convert|58|cm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} diameter.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/| title = Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age| first = Steve| last = Garber| date = October 10, 2007| work = Sputnik 50th Anniversary| publisher = [[National Aeronautic and Space Administration|NASA History Website]]| location = Washington
}}</ref> The satellite would not contain the complex instrumentation that Object D had, but had two radio transmitters operating on different [[short wave radio]] frequencies, the ability to detect if a meteoroid were to penetrate its pressure hull, and the ability to detect the density of the Earth's [[thermosphere]].{{sfn|Hardesty|Eisman|2007|pp=72–73}}

{{Listen
| filename     = Sputnik beep.ogg
| title        = ''Beep ... beep ... beep''
| alt          =
| description  = The signals of ''Sputnik 1'' continued for 22 days
}}

Korolev was buoyed by the first successful launches of the R-7 rocket in August and September, which paved the way for the launch of ''Sputnik''.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2003a|pp=163–68}} Word came that the US was planning to announce a major breakthrough at an International Geophysical Year conference at the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] in Washington D.C., with a paper titled "Satellite Over the Planet", on October 6, 1957.{{sfn|Cadbury|2006|p=163}} Korolev anticipated that von Braun might launch a Jupiter-C with a satellite payload on or around October 4 or 5, in conjunction with the paper.{{sfn|Cadbury|2006|p=163}} He hastened the launch, moving it to October 4.{{sfn|Cadbury|2006|p=163}} The launch vehicle for PS-1 was a modified R-7 – vehicle 8K71PS number M1-PS – without much of the test equipment and radio gear that was present in the previous launches.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2003a|pp=163–68}} It arrived at the Soviet missile base [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Tyura-Tam]] in September and was prepared for its mission at [[Gagarin's Start|launch site number one]].{{sfn|Siddiqi|2003a|pp=163–68}}

The first launch took place on Friday, October 4, 1957, at exactly 10:28:34&nbsp;pm Moscow time, with the R-7 and the now named Sputnik 1 satellite lifting off the launch pad and placing the artificial "moon" into an orbit a few minutes later.{{sfn|Hardesty|Eisman|2007|p=74}} This "fellow traveler", as the name is translated in English, was a small, beeping ball, less than two feet in diameter and weighing less than 200 pounds. But the celebrations were muted at the launch control center until the down-range far east tracking station at [[Yelizovo|Kamchatka]] received the first distinctive beep&nbsp;... beep&nbsp;... beep sounds from ''Sputnik 1''{{'}}s radio transmitters, indicating that it was on its way to completing its first orbit.{{sfn|Hardesty|Eisman|2007|p=74}} About 95 minutes after launch, the satellite flew over its launch site, and its radio signals were picked up by the engineers and military personnel at Tyura-Tam: that's when Korolev and his team celebrated the first successful artificial satellite placed into Earth-orbit.{{sfn|Cadbury|2006|pp=164–65}}

The next satellite sent by the Soviets after Sputnik 1 was [[Sputnik 2]], launched on November 3, 1957, just a month later. This would put the first animal into orbit.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Sputnik 2 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1957-002A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-06 |title=60 years ago: The First Animal in Orbit - NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/history/60-years-ago-the-first-animal-in-orbit/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |language=en-US}}</ref>