Question

Name the first artificial satellite sent by Russia in space.

Answer 1

Hint
To answer these types of questions, we need to have a good knowledge of the important events happening in the area of science and research. The first artificial satellite launched by Russia was also the first artificial earth satellite.

Complete step by step answer
Sputnik-1 was the first artificial satellite sent by Russia in space. The word “Sputnik” originally meant ‘fellow traveller’. But now it has become synonymous with the word ‘satellite’. It was launched into space by the Soviet Union on 4th October 1957. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit. The batteries which supplied power to it, died after three weeks, following which it orbited silently and then finally fell back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958. It was spherical in shape with a diameter of about 58 cm. It was also the first artificial earth satellite.
Hence, the answer of this question is Sputnik-1.

Note
The scientists got valuable information after studying and tracking it. Its drag on the orbit could trace the density of the upper atmosphere. It travelled at the speed of about 8100 m/s. So, it took 96.2 minutes to complete each orbit. Before falling back into the earth’s atmosphere, it completed nearly 1440 orbits of the earth, with a distance of about 70 million km. It was made of the pressurized sphere of the aluminium alloy, which had the following objectives:
-Testing the method of placing an artificial satellite into the Earth’s orbit.
-Getting an estimate of the density of the atmosphere by calculating its lifetime in orbit.
-Determine the effects of radio wave propagation through the atmosphere.
-Testing the radio and the optical methods of orbital tracking.
-Checking the principles of pressurization used on the satellites.