Sputnik 3
Encyclopedia
| Instruments | |
|---|---|
| Upper Atmosphere : | Composition of the upper atmosphere |
| Geiger counters : | Charged particles |
| Micrometeoroid detectors : | Micrometeoroids |
Sputnik 3 was a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
satellite launched on May 15, 1958 from Baikonur
Baikonur
Baikonur , formerly known as Leninsk, is a city in Kyzylorda Province of Kazakhstan, rented and administered by the Russian Federation. It was constructed to service the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was officially renamed Baikonur by Russian president Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995.The shape of the...
cosmodrome by a modified R-7/SS-6 ICBM. It was a research satellite to explore the upper atmosphere and the near space
Near space
Near space is the region of Earth's atmosphere that lies between 65,000 and 325,000–350,000 feet above sea level, encompassing the stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. A more understandable definition would be above where a commercial airliner flies but below the realm of an orbiting...
, and carried a large array of instruments for geophysical
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
research.
In July 1956, the Soviet Union's OKB-1
S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia
OAO S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia , also known as RKK Energiya, is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components...
drafted a project to design and build the first Earth satellite, designated ISZ (Artificial Earth Satellite). ISZ, known to its designers as "Object D." Design of Object D had begun in January 1956 with intent to launch it during the International Geophysical Year. Object D was planned to be the first satellite launched by the Soviet Union but ended up being the third following delays due to problems developing the extensive scientific experiments and their telemetry system. The new R-7
R-7 Semyorka
The R-7 was a Soviet missile developed during the Cold War, and the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 made 28 launches between 1957 and 1961, but was never deployed operationally. A derivative, the R-7A, was deployed from 1960 to 1968...
intercontinental ballistic missile
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...
also known by its GURVO designation 8K71. was ready to launch before Object D was finished. Worried at the prospect of America launching a satellite before he did, Sergei Korolev substituted the relatively simple "Prosteyshiy Sputnik-1" meaning "Simple Satellite 1," or "PS-1," which was labeled "Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 ) was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space...
" by the Soviet Government, as the first satellite to be launched, instead. The Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2 , or Prosteyshiy Sputnik 2 ), was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on November 3, 1957, and the first to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika. Sputnik 2 was a 4-meter high cone-shaped capsule with a base diameter of 2 meters...
(PS-2) was also ready earlier and launched earlier than Object D. Like its American counterpart, Vanguard, Object D had succeeded in making it into orbit during the IGY.
Sputnik 3 was launched by a modified R-7 Semyorka
R-7 Semyorka
The R-7 was a Soviet missile developed during the Cold War, and the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 made 28 launches between 1957 and 1961, but was never deployed operationally. A derivative, the R-7A, was deployed from 1960 to 1968...
missile developed for satellite launches, the Sputnik (rocket) 8K91. Following a launch failure on 27 April 1958, a development of Object D finally reached orbit having been launched at 07:00:35 on 15 May 1958, the Soviet Government designated it "Sputnik-3." Sputnik 3 was an automatic scientific laboratory spacecraft. It was conically shaped and was 3.57 m long and 1.73 m wide at its base. It weighed 1,327 kg. The scientific instrumentation (twelve instruments) provided data on pressure and composition of the upper atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere
The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...
, concentration of charged particle
Charged particle
In physics, a charged particle is a particle with an electric charge. It may be either a subatomic particle or an ion. A collection of charged particles, or even a gas containing a proportion of charged particles, is called a plasma, which is called the fourth state of matter because its...
s, photon
Photon
In physics, a photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic interaction and the basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation. It is also the force carrier for the electromagnetic force...
s in cosmic ray
Cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
s, heavy nuclei
Atomic nucleus
The nucleus is the very dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom. It was discovered in 1911, as a result of Ernest Rutherford's interpretation of the famous 1909 Rutherford experiment performed by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, under the direction of Rutherford. The...
in cosmic rays, magnetic
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
and electrostatic fields
Electric field
In physics, an electric field surrounds electrically charged particles and time-varying magnetic fields. The electric field depicts the force exerted on other electrically charged objects by the electrically charged particle the field is surrounding...
, and meteor
METEOR
METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
ic particles. While The Earth's outer radiation belts were detected during the flight; its Tral-D tape recorder failed, so it was unable to map the Van Allen radiation belt
Van Allen radiation belt
The Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energetic charged particles around Earth, which is held in place by Earth's magnetic field. It is believed that most of the particles that form the belts come from solar wind, and other particles by cosmic rays. It is named after its discoverer, James...
. The Soviets, without full evidence were "hog-tied." The spacecraft remained in orbit until April 6, 1960, when the orbit degraded from drag in the upper atmosphere to the point where the satellite reentered the atmosphere, disintegrating before impact.
Sputnik III was the only Soviet satellite launched in 1958. Like its American counterpart, Vanguard, Sputnik III had succeeded in making it into orbit during the IGY.
See also
- modified R-7/SS-6 ICBM
- List of unmanned spacecraft by program