The day the first satellite was launched – level 2

04-10-1957

Sputnik was one of the most famous objects which people made. It was the first artificial satellite, and it started the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States.

The satellite was 58 centimeters wide and the total weight was over 80 kilograms. Sputnik was made of aluminum. It had two transmitters, batteries, a ventilation system, and sensors for temperature and pressure.

It was sent into space on October 4, 1957, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was the moment when the first man-made object entered orbit.

Big celebrations started in the Soviet Union, and many people watched Sputnik in the night sky.

Soon after this moment, the United States started their space agency, NASA.

Difficult words: artificial (not natural), space race (a time when countries fight to develop space technology), aluminium (a very light silver-light metal), transmitter (a machine which sends signal), pressure (when something presses something), orbit (the way in space around the Earth).

What lasting influence did Sputnik have on space exploration?

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