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Excerpts from Petersen's Book of Man in Space
Volume One: The First Small Step
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Plate 1: Courtesy of Sovfoto
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Plate 2: Courtesy of Sovfoto
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SPUTNIK
Soviet technology astounds the world (pages 28 - 29)
On October 4, 1957, Russia shakes up the United States and the free world by launching the first earth
satellite in history. Sputnik I, a polished metal sphere weighing 184 pounds and measuring a mere 23
inches in diameter (1,2), catches the world by surprise as it flies around the earth sending out
its "Beep beep beep ....." Although the Russians had announced at the International Geophysical
Year conference for 1957-58 that they would launch an artificial satellite, the world is caught off guard
as little Sputnik 1 broadcasts Russia's psychological and technical victory over the world in general,
and the United States in particular. What better propaganda to prove Russia's technological superiority
over the U.S. than being the first nation to successfully launch an artificial satellite? The race to
the moon is on, and if Sputnik is any indication of Russia's ability in the field of space technology,
she must be considered a first-class competitor. The White House claims that the launching of the
satellite "did not come as any surprise," but Russia's impression on the rest of the world seems to be in
Plate 4: Courtesy Tass from Sovfoto
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direct proportion to America's embarrassment at being soundly trounced. The political overtones are
enormous, and the Arab governments of the Middle East are deeply concerned over this tangible proof of
Plate 3: Courtesy Tass from Sovfoto
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Soviet technology. Pro-Soviet influence in the Arab states is threatening enough to the stability of
their governments, and the fear that Russia, having launched a satellite into orbit, could certainly
launch a missile across a continent if she chooses to, must be taken seriously. Before the U.S. can
wipe the egg off its face, Russia launches Sputnik II on November 3, 1857, exactly one month after
Sputnik I. This time the satellite weighs 1120 pounds, and carries earth's first space traveler,
a small dog named Laika. Since no attempts will be made to recover Sputnik II, Laika will be
automatically fed a poisoned pellet to prevent her from suffering or dying of starvation and
asphyxiation. As Laika hurls through space in her metal dog house, instruments on earth will record
information about how well she is doing in space, facts which may help man understand weightlessness
and its effect on future space travelers. The Soviets continue to demonstrate that their space program
is no fluke, as their capability to orbit huge payloads grows by leaps and bounds. On May 15, 1958, they
launch Sputnik III (3,4), weighing 2925 pounds and carrying scientific instruments to measure
conditions in space. It will have a lifetime of two years before its orbit decays.
Plate 1: Courtesy of Sovfoto
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ANIMALS GO INTO SPACE
Animal astronauts from Laika to Ham (pages 50 - 51)
Unanswered questions on environmental and recovery systems have now forged a decision to use animals in
space tests. Why use humans in an unknown environment? This notion is as it should be, for science has
always depended upon lower primates as a prelude to exploration. It's man's way, and it is the way of
science -- a method not without opposition -- yet the fact is that countless scientific breakthroughs owe
their successes to live animal research. The drugs penicillin and insulin, for example, might not exist
without live animal research. But the problem of firing a lesser primate into space has new hazards. In
the first place, various reactions and effects upon an animal must be measurable in areas of cosmic
radiation, rocket acceleration, or possible meteor collision. How will an animal react to the launch
propulsion, re-entry, splashdown, and capsule recovery? To the extreme temperatures of space? To
weightlessness? And will the animal have the ability to perform tasks amidst these hazards, so that
Plate 2: Courtesy of Sovfoto
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man may follow? It is upon this last question that a crucial difference in scientific judgment may
settle the race for the moon. This far, achievements have favored the Soviet Union -- in tonnage lifted
into space, in duration of flight, and in aggressive exploration. The USSR, however, is very much a
disciple of its renowned psychologist, Ivan Pavlov, and his "Conditioned Reflex" theory, based upon
studies of dogs. One Soviet space scientist has said that "dogs adapt easier to unpredictable
experimental conditions than the anthropoid ape, even though the latter is closer to man in evolutionary
development." NASA space scientists believe, on the other hand, that the primary target of such research
is to understand the higher nervous system, a situation which definitely favors the use of chimpanzees.
The Russians seem mainly concerned with effects upon animals of space travel, while American
efforts focus on animal reactions to the same. The difference is a subtle one, often missed, but
of eminent importance. NASA reasons that if man cannot effectively work in space, he is worthless;
it would be better to send a less expensive robot spacecraft. Nevertheless, the USSR sends a mongrel
dog, Laika, on a one-way flight aboard Sputnik II in November 1957 (1), and follows in August 1960 with
Belka and Strelka in Sputnik 5 (2). On the 18th orbit, the capsule is returned, and the two space dogs
later produce healthy puppies. But in 1961, the eyes of NASA are on a 4-year-old male chimp named Ham,
as Mercury-Redstone 2 awaits.
SOURCE:
Petersen's Book of Man in Space
Volume One: The First Small Step
Russia's Sputnik / America's Vanguard
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Edited by Al Hall and the General Subjects editors of Specialty Publications Division.
Copyright 1974 by Petersen Publishing Co., 8490 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90069.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 74-81627 ISBN 0-8227-0072-7
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