# Official confirmation Sputnik is in orbit. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921 "2004-03-23T16:12:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GawnFishin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GawnFishin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GawnFishin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/1 "2004-03-23T16:12:07Z")
Ok we all know Sputnik could be seen with the naked eye but official confirmation, how was Sputnik officialy confirmed to be in orbit? And how long was it in space? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/2 "2004-03-23T16:46:37Z")
Official? Do you mean the official announcement from the Kremlin, or do you mean the fact that the U.S. (and any halfwit with a crystal set) could detect the radio signals it emitted? Sputnik 1 was launched on October 4, 1957, and fell back to Earth on January 4, 1958. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik\_1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/3 "2004-03-23T16:48:46Z")
Sputnik-1 had [two radio transmitters (20 and 40MHz)](http://www.batnet.com/mfwright/sputnik.html) and its [flight lasted for six months](http://www.space.com/news/sputnik42_991005.html) ---
**Author:** ![GawnFishin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GawnFishin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GawnFishin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/4 "2004-03-23T17:02:37Z")
I ask because I’m working on clearing up some historical information. I’m doing a little research for an historical society. Actually they are asking about “first visual records” meaning photos. The claim is that this site was the first North American site to officially photograph Sputnik. Kind of obscure but it’s what I’m asked to do. > [@](#): > > and fell back to Earth on January 4, 1958. This confirms what I have but which is it really this date or six months, as six months would mean April not January. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/5 "2004-03-23T18:12:32Z")
Check your library for [Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, by Paul Dickson](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425188434/qid=1080064898/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/102-9246549-5741733?v=glance&s=books). It went pretty thoroughly into the hysteria of the first few days. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/6 "2004-03-23T18:44:32Z")
> [@12 parsecs from home](#): > > …Actually they are asking about “first visual records” meaning photos. The claim is that this site was the first North American site to officially photograph Sputnik. > … I’m having a hard time imagining anyone in 1957/58 being able to photograph an object that small moving that fast that far away. Do you mean photos of Sputnik in orbit, or just photos? ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/7 "2004-03-23T18:54:49Z")
[http://science.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/3D/JTrack3D.html](http://science.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/3D/JTrack3D.html) Obviously Sputnik is not currently being tracked but IIRC the navy’s Vanguard is still up after about 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![GawnFishin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GawnFishin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GawnFishin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/8 "2004-03-23T18:58:37Z")
**hammerbach** I mean ground based photos of Sputnik in Orbit. This is what I have this [image](http://www.gawnfishin.com/Doper-stuff/sputnik3.gif) is supposedly a copy of the first official photograh taken by [this camera](http://www.gawnfishin.com/Doper-stuff/camera.jpg) at the Newbrook Observatory in Newbrook Alberta. Apparently the observatory was originally established to study meteor spectra and to study the upper atmosphere in the years prior to space travel. As for the quality of the images it’s all I’ve got, I have many other pictures and I’m trying to piece it all together ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/9 "2004-03-23T19:11:58Z")
The NY Times has its entire series of articles from that first week up on the net at: [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/sputnik/main.html](http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/sputnik/main.html) Fascinating reading. The articles repeatedly state that Sputnik was easily observable through binoculars and telescopes, so I’m sure that even in 1957 a camera could be attached for a photo. Astronomers had already been doing the bulk of their observations through cameras for years. And the U.S. already had the first of its [high-precision cameras](http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/sputnik/sput-02.html) in operation: > [@](#): > > Ultimately, the United States is to have special cameras installed a dozen points around the world to take high precision photographs of the satellites against a star-studded background. These can be used for detailed studies of the satellite orbits. > > Only one of those cameras has been set up so far and the last will probably not be in operation until next summer. The Soviet Union does not appear to have any such precision cameras and has expressed an interest in those being made here. ---
**Author:** ![bunyip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@bunyip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bunyip)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/10 "2004-03-23T22:57:06Z")
If your interested in how America detected the first sputniks (or visual booster rocket), or indeed about the early Vangard project (“Minitrack” detection of Sputnik), I would recommend “Vangard: a history” isbn 08747411222 (circa1971) by the Smithsonian press. ---
**Author:** ![bunyip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@bunyip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bunyip)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/11 "2004-03-23T23:00:06Z")
make that “Vanguard: a history” ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/12 "2004-03-24T00:07:05Z")
> [@bunyip](#): > > If your interested in how America detected the first sputniks (or visual booster rocket), or indeed about the early Vangard project (“Minitrack” detection of Sputnik), I would recommend “Vangard: a history” isbn 08747411222 (circa1971) by the Smithsonian press. On the subject of tracking the early launches, from [this obituary](http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=503097) for William Pickering, the former head of the JPL who died last week: > [@](#): > > Faced with public humiliation when the US Navy’s Vanguard rocket exploded on lift-off, President Dwight D. Eisenhower called upon JPL and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency to place the first American satellite into orbit. Pickering directed the JPL effort, which, in just 83 days, provided the 14kg satellite, a network of tracking stations and the upper stages of the Jupiter-C rocket that lofted _Explorer 1_ into orbit on 31 January 1958. Pickering later described the seemingly interminable wait for confirmation that the satellite had successfully entered orbit. He recalled: > > > [@](#): > > > > At the designated time, I phoned JPL, and they had a phone link to the tracking station in the desert. The time went by, and went by, and no signal. It was eight minutes before we got a signal, and it was the longest eight minutes of my life. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/13 "2004-03-24T05:33:17Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > …The articles repeatedly state that Sputnik was easily observable through binoculars and telescopes… Obviously, it’s time for me to recalibrate my thinking on this subject! ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/14 "2004-03-24T06:02:32Z")
NASA on Sputnik visibility: [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/tmp/1957-001B.html](http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/tmp/1957-001B.html) : > [@](#): > > The Sputnik 1 rocket booster also reached Earth orbit and was visible from the ground at night as a first magnitude object, while the small but highly polished sphere barely visible at sixth magnitude more difficult to follow optically - first magnitude is as bright as a bright star, whereas sixth magnitude is the faintest visible to the naked eye. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/15 "2004-03-24T12:09:08Z")
> [@hammerbach](#): > > I’m having a hard time imagining anyone in 1957/58 being able to photograph an object that small moving that fast that far away. Do you mean photos of Sputnik in orbit, or just photos? Because it’s so far away, it doesn’t appear to be moving all that fast. Have you never seen a satalite moving across the night sky with your naked eye? ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/16 "2004-03-24T15:04:46Z")
Can’t say that I have, other than the ISS, which is MUCH larger, and not spherical. And only with reflected sunlight. As I said, I’ll recalibrate my thinking on this one. Thanks to all for the info. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/17 "2004-03-25T06:07:42Z")
Well, _everything_ is reflected sunlight (discounting artificial light, stars, and other natural light sources). If you look at the sky on a clear night for long enough, in an area not contaminated by artificial light (the city or even a small town is _not_ a good place), you should see a number of satalites cruising overhead. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/18 "2004-03-25T06:17:03Z")
> [@12 parsecs from home](#): > > The claim is that this site was the first North American site to officially photograph Sputnik. “This site” is what site? ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/19 "2004-03-25T17:01:25Z")
> [@1920s Style Death Ray](#): > > … > Well, _everything_ is reflected sunlight (discounting artificial light, stars, and other natural light sources). > … Yes, I know… I meant to imply that timing was important, and that a spherical object’s reflection would be much harder to see that a flat object’s reflection. ---
**Author:** ![GawnFishin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GawnFishin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GawnFishin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-confirmation-sputnik-is-in-orbit/235921/20 "2004-03-25T18:08:41Z")
> [@](#): > > “This site” is what site? **Walloon** , see post #8… > [@](#): > > This is what I have this image is supposedly a copy of the first official photograh taken by this camera at the Newbrook Observatory in Newbrook Alberta. I had wanted to keep the name of the observatory out of the post to see what information I could get or if someone could come up with the name of the Observatory without my prompting for it.