History changed on October 4, 1957 , when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball, weighed only 183 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.
History changed again when Sputnik was founded and launched in 2000 by Val Kasvin to provide modelmaking services to the industrial designers in San Francisco, Silicon valley and beyond.
Chronology of Sputnik and Sputnik Models/Vanguard/Explorer Events 1957-58 -2000
- October 4, 1957 USSR : Sputnik 1 (83.6 kg) launched
- November 3 USSR : Sputnik 2 (508.3 kg), with dog Laika as passenger, launched
- December 6 USA : Vanguard TV-3 explodes on launch pad
- January 31, 1958 USA : Explorer 1 (14 kg), America 's first satellite, discovers the Van Allen radiation belts
- February 3 USSR : First try to launch Sputnik 3 fails
- March 17 USA : Vanguard 1 (1.47 kg) successfully orbits, establishes the pear-shapedness of the Earth
- March 26 USA : Explorer 3 orbits, collects radiation and micrometeoroid data
- April 28 USA : Another Vanguard fails to orbit (third failure)
- May 15 USSR : Sputnik 3 (1,327 kg) orbits, carrying large array of scientific instruments, but tape recorder fails, so it can't map Van Allen belts
- July 26 USA Explorer 4 orbits and maps Van Allen radiation belts for 2 1/2 months
- September 26 USA Vanguard fails for the sixth time
- January 1, 2000 USA Sputnik Models was successfully launched the first time on American soil and successfully orbits up to these days
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