Sputnik and Beyond! a Brief History of the Artificial Satellite.

Satellites

A Satellite is any object that orbits another object. The Moon is a natural satellite to the Earth, the Earth is a natural satellite to the Sun. Artificial satellites are satellites made by men and sent into space to orbit the Earth, moon, Mars, or any other celestial body. Satellites have many uses. We use them for observing the Earth and other planets, we use them for research, we use them for communication. Some astronauts even use big satellites (space stations) as places to live. There are hundreds of commercial uses for satellites; consumers can buy satellite radio, mobile satellite TV and mobile satellite internet. All of these services depend on satellites in space in order to function. The first satellite sent into space was called Sputnik. It was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, but to understand the history of man-made satellites, you have to look back even further in time, all the way to the dawn of man.

Ancient Man’s Fascination With Outer Space

When studying ancient civilizations, one will find that human culture has been extremely diverse throughout the ages. One will also notice that in spite of the extreme diversity, almost every group of human beings has had at least one thing in common: a fascination with the stars. As far as history can tell, humans have always been drawn to the stars, Moon, and Sun. Entire religions and complex rituals have been invented to worship these objects in the sky. Temples and pyramids have been built in their honor. Slowly but surely our understanding of celestial bodies has increased. Ancient man learned to map the location of stars, create calendars, locate planets, and even predict solar eclipses. More recently we have discovered ways to send objects into space and as I’m sure you have already heard, we’ve even sent people to the moon.

Modern Man’s Fascination With Outer Space

In 1880, a Russian scientist named Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, theorized that a liquid fueled rocket might be able to launch into outer space, he wrote more than 500 books on space travel, several of which were science fiction novels. In 1926, American scientist Robert Goddard began building rockets similar to those theorized by Konstantin. Though Goddard is considered a father of modern rocketry, his creations never made it into space.

World War II gave rocket science an enormous boost. The Nazis began to experiment and in 1942 the German V-2 rocket (Vergeltungswaffe 2) was created for the purpose of blowing up Nazi enemies. Even though it was born with evil intentions, the V-2 ended up being a wonderful scientific breakthrough. It was the first man made object to be launched into space. As the war came to a close, the USA, USSR, and Britain, all raced to collect German technologies. The United States had the most success in obtaining rocket technology. They did this by taking German rocket scientists (including Nazis) and bringing them to America to work for Uncle Sam. New rockets were developed for warfare as well as for scientific purposes.

After the war, US citizens thought of themselves as being scientifically superior to all other nations. This superiority complex was destroyed in 1957 when the Soviet Union successfully put the first artificial satellite into orbit. They called it Sputnik. The United States went into panic. America had to catch up, the famous space race began. The NASA agency (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was established the following year and millions of dollars were tossed into the advancement of space exploration technology. Even school curriculum was changed in hopes of sparking a greater interest among children in space technologies. US efforts paid off when they launched their own satellite in 1958 called “explorer I".

On December 18^th 1958 a new U.S. communication satellite was launched. It broadcasted a Christmas message from President Eisenhower to the world. Laika was the first animal in space. The Dog was sent up in the Soviet satellite “Sputnik 2". The animal died within hours of the launch. Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space, he returned safely. He was also sent by the Soviet Union.

In 1969, Apollo 11 landed man on the moon. This was accomplished by the USA and relieved pressure to continue in the “space war". Since that time, space exploration has calmed and man has focused more on making practical technologies to improve quality of life on earth.

Modern Satellite Uses

* Astronomical satellites are satellites used to observe distant celestial bodies such as planets, moons, asteroids and stars.

* Communication satellites are used send messages to distant locations on earth or in space. Satellite radio, satellite TV, and satellite Internet all receive information to from communication satellites.

* Biosatellites carry living things (plants, animals, bacteria exedra) into orbit. This is usually done for scientific research.

* Observation satellites are used to observe the Earth. They can get information about weather and even take pictures from overhead. It is believed that such satellites are frequently used by militaries to spy on enemy activities.

Our Modern Satellite World

Satellites have changed how we live, they have given man more power to learn, more power to communicate, more power to create and also, more power to destroy. Billions of dollars have been spent on satellite technology, new uses for satellites and new technologies for them are being discovered every year. Satellite installation is a booming business. You can get receivers for your homes and even your cars. It’s funny to think that it all started with a simple human fascination with the stars.

Jon Perry is an account specialist for 10xmarketing and MotoSAT a satellite equipment company. Learn how to get mobile satellite internet, mobile satellite TV, and more at motosat.com

» left by Kaley Foley

from Florida, largo 3 years 262 days ago.

Has any man made satellites been sent to Pluto?

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» left by Anonymous 2 years 6 days ago.

Which man-made satellites were recently put into orbit?

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