"On This Day" In Engineering History

Good work comrads. Now, if we could only find a way to make enough bread for everyone.

So, now you're a commie-hater? Get with the program! Bashing communists is sooo 1950's! (And 60's, and 70's, and quite of bit of the 80's.)

The really funny thing is it was also the first day that "Leave it to Beaver" aired in the US. That ought to give you an idea of what the world was like when it launched.

My father never misses an oportunity to tell me about Sputnik, he was 18 years of age when it was launched and tells me it was easily observed with the naked eye.

On any clear night you will find me out in my backyard hunting down the Messier objects with an 8" Newtonian reflector. It is not uncommon for a man made object to pass through my field of vision and, if I react quickly enough, I can track it for a brief time. The number of objects orbitting the earth that we have put up there is amazing, but I still get a thrill everytime I see one.

Did he ever mention the dog that flew aboard Sputnik 2? My son asked me about that last night, and we were dismayed to learn about Laika's fate.

He never did mention the dog, I always assumed that Laika's flight came somewhat later and that re-entry and retrieval had occured (just prior to first manned flights). I did not realize that the intent was to euthanize the dog in space. Having now read the wikipedia article, I can see the nescessity of doing things the way they were done. Personally, I wouldn't design and build an elaborate ship with fully tested life support and re-entry capabilities before finding out if living creatures could even survive liftoff etc. Still, a shame about Laika.

Have a look at what wikipedia has to say about space monkeys (sounds like a Frank Zappa song). The first in space was aboard a V2 rocket almost a decade earlier.

So then I guess it was 49 years ago today that my dad, a ham radio operator, sent a congratulatory message to his Russian ham radio friends. And it was probably 49 years ago less a week or so that the FBI (or would it be the CIA?) started knocking on our neighbors' doors to ask them if my dad was a patriot or a traitor...

No doubt! Check out this link about ham radio in the 1950s sometime. I love the rather dated sentiment that: "In that era, hams did not talk about religion, politics, or anything that might be the least bit offensive. Nevertheless, the conversations were enjoyable."

Thank you very much for this posting...greatly enjoyed reading the article re ham radio in the 50's. Was studying code and theory circa '52 or '53 but had to sideline it to help the family launch a business up in Ontario. Still have my National NC 125 won in a Boy's Life (Scouting Mag) SWL contest. Thanks again and have forwarded the link to one of our sons who shows an interest in things of this nature. Gene Herrmann; near Cincinnati, Oh.

You're welcome, Gene. I hope that you and your son will join CR4, if you haven't done so already. Just look for the "Register" link on the right-hand side of the red bar near the top of the CR4 home page. One good reason to register is that you can then subscribe to posts and threads that are of interest to you. For example, based on your interest in ham radio, you might like to subscribe to the "Communications & Electronics" forum. Hope this helps! - Moose.

Of course, this was part of the International Geophysical Year 1957, in which all nations were trying to advance Science. Regretfully, the Russians were more interested in it than was Eisenhower. The navy was then pressed to get the "Vanguard" into orbit. It was much like Sputnik except that it's antennas were at right angles rather than trailing from the sattelite. After several attempts, the navy was knocked out of the program by the army's attempt. Ever heard of "Explorer"?? This was the first American successful attempt to get a satellite into orbit. Guess who was behind it? Werner von Braun.