Sputnik 1 (/ˈspʌtnɪk, ˈspʊtnɪk/, ‹See Tfd›Russian: Спутник-1, Satellite 1) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries became depleted. Aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958. The world’s first observation was made at the school observatory in Rodewisch (Saxony).

It was a polished metal sphere 58 cm (23 in) in diameter with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses. Its radio signal was easily detectable by amateur radio operators, and the 65° orbital inclination made its flight path cover virtually the entire inhabited Earth.

The satellite’s success was unanticipated by the United States. This precipitated the American Sputnik crisis and triggered the Space Race, part of the Cold War. The launch was the beginning of a new era of political, military, technological, and scientific developments. The word sputnik is Russian for satellite when interpreted in an astronomical context; its other meanings are spouse or traveling companion.

Tracking and studying Sputnik 1 from Earth provided scientists with valuable information. The density of the upper atmosphere could be deduced from its drag on the orbit, and the propagation of its radio signals gave data about the ionosphere.

Sputnik 1 was launched during the International Geophysical Year from Site No.1/5, at the 5th Tyuratam range, in Kazakh SSR (now known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome). The satellite traveled at a peak speed of about 8 km/s (18,000 mph), taking 96.20 minutes to complete each orbit. It transmitted on 20.005 and 40.002 MHz, which were monitored by radio operators throughout the world. The signals continued for 22 days until the transmitter batteries depleted on 26 October 1957. On 4 January 1958, after three months in orbit, Sputnik 1 burned up while reentering Earth’s atmosphere, having completed 1,440 orbits of the Earth, and travelling a distance of approximately 70,000,000 km (43,000,000 mi).

Megathreads and spaces to hang out:

reminders:

  • 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
  • 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
  • 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
  • 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
  • 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog

Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

    • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      That is genuinely part of it. Co worker who was getting her seal had to make this weird fucking haddock soup for grading. The instructions were it had to be soup and it had to have haddock, fucking weird. Most of it is more the managerial side like how to do food costing math and that sort of stuff. It’s really just one of those things that most of the people doing it are just there to get a certificate for shit they already learned on the job. Anyone actually learning anything in culinary school probably shouldn’t be there and should just get a dishwasher job and work up in a kitchen until getting your papers is the only way to advance. I’ve seen enough people fresh from culinary school with no working experience too many times, they SUCK. They always have celebrity chef dreams or seem like the biggest asshole contestant in a cooking TV show, think what they learned in school is the objectively and scientific way to make a meal, when you’re not in school, you’re at work, a dude with an auto engineering degree who ends up working an auto assembly line can’t just start changing how they make a motor cause the process at the factory isn’t exactly what they learned in school. Also they’re slow as fuck and don’t know basic safety things like announcing when you come around corners, when you’re passing through people working, when you’re behind people and especially when carrying a knife of something hot. Usually they don’t need recipes explained in too much detail and they know the names of stuff, but otherwise, it’s a pain in the ass group to work with.