50 Years in Orbit
50 years ago the Soviet Union made history. The launch of Sputnik 1 – just 98 minutes orbit by a satellite the size of a basketball – was a massive story which caught the world unawares. It triggered the formation of NASA and the Cold War space race and was the first in a line of extraordinary Russian firsts that that included the first “earthling” in space (the dog Laika), the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin) and the first space walk (Alexei Leonov). The genius behind it all was the shadowy figure of Sergei Korolev (“King” in Russian) who survived 8 years in Siberian gulag as a victim of Stalin’s Great Purge before taking on leadership of the Soviet space programme.
TopFoto has the Sputnik launch shot plus a gallery of images.
For a different perspective why not try Space According to PUNCH
October 4 1957 – Sputnik 1
November 3 1957 – Sputnik 2 (Laika)
December 6 1957 – US first attempt explodes (Vanguard TV3)
October 1 1958 – formation of NASA
April 12 1961 – first human in space
March 18 1965 – first space walk
p000376 - Cover of Punch, 6 November 1957 ©Punch Ltd / TopFoto
1040812 - The launch of Sputnik 1, 4 October 1957 ©RIA Novosti / TopFoto
1054197 - Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite ©RIA Novosti / TopFoto