# First manmade object in space **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771 "2007-03-13T18:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771/1 "2007-03-13T18:05:03Z")
I know Sputnik, in 1957, was the first manmade object to _orbit_ the Earth, but were there any rockets, probes, etc that didn’t make a full orbit launched before Sputnik? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771/2 "2007-03-13T18:11:35Z")
How far back do you want to go? There’s the V2 rockets of WW2 for starters. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771/3 "2007-03-13T18:17:55Z")
And how do you define space? Based on this thread, something could have gotten there at the start of WWII: > **[Big Bertha made it to outer space?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=412141)** > > I was reading about German railway guns of WWI the other day. Monstrous things, so precisely engineered that each projectile was a little larger than its predecessor, to account for barrel wear. And after a couple dozen firings, you shipped the... Or even earlier, maybe, if you accept balloonist’s records. Just for kicks, the first story of an artificial satellite – made of refractory brick to resist atmospheric friction, and used as a navigational aid – was "The Brick Moon’ by Edward Everett Hale circa. In the sequel, we learn that it was _manned_. Predated even Verne. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771/4 "2007-03-13T18:23:02Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] And how do you define space? Based on this thread, something could have gotten there at the start of WWII: > **[Big Bertha made it to outer space?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=412141)** > > I was reading about German railway guns of WWI the other day. Monstrous things, so precisely engineered that each projectile was a little larger than its predecessor, to account for barrel wear. And after a couple dozen firings, you shipped the... Or even earlier, maybe, if you accept balloonist’s records. [/quote] I thought I cited sources saying “space” starts at 50 mile altitude (older definition) or 100 km (newer)? Neither has been reached by balloons or artillery shells. I would guess the V-2 missile was the first to reach either altitude. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771/5 "2007-03-13T19:01:56Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Just for kicks, the first story of an artificial satellite – made of refractory brick to resist atmospheric friction, and used as a navigational aid – was "The Brick Moon’ by Edward Everett Hale circa. In the sequel, we learn that it was _manned_. Predated even Verne. [/QUOTE] And that is available for free online, at Project Gutenberg: [The Brick Moon, and Other Stories by Edward Everett Hale | Project Gutenberg](http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1633) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771/6 "2007-03-13T19:05:19Z")
Cool! I had to dig up a copy of the original magazine and photocopy it when I wanted to read the story. It was reprinted in paperback, but I think that edition’s pretty obscure, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771/7 "2007-03-13T19:58:23Z")
In 1957, a steel plate was blasted to **escape velocity** during a nuclear test (see Plumbob Test in link): [Project Orion (nuclear propulsion) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771/8 "2007-03-13T21:47:31Z")
Does the blast to orbit have to be _intentional_? If not, a hut or flint ax, atop a volcano, is the likely candidate. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-manmade-object-in-space/395771/9 "2007-03-13T22:22:06Z")
Hey if the hut was occupied that’d be the first manned space flight. Not sayin he’d be alive when he got there of course.