# Sputnik - still orbiting the earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944 "2011-09-02T13:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944/41 "2011-09-03T20:12:26Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I heard they used a catapult that hurled mummified Russian dogs. No, some kind of beam weapon that causes vital functions to cease - a notion that’s been about the place for, what, nine decades or so? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944/42 "2011-09-03T23:22:20Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Nah, I read somewhere that it crashed and burned. I don’t remember when though. Have you tried searching for a link to it? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944/43 "2011-09-04T02:19:37Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > This turned out to be harder than I thought. You have to define what you mean by a working satellite. As you shall see, it’s not immediately obvious what constitutes the “oldest” satellite. > > [ATS-3](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATS-3), Launched on November 5th, 1967, is still operational but it was decommissioned in 2001. My understanding is, that with the right equipment, you can still talk to it. What sort of equipment and what does “talk to it” mean? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944/44 "2011-09-04T04:03:05Z")
Since the OP’s be adequately answered, I’d just like to mention my dad once found a booger with a couple hairs in it in a taco he’d ordered from Taco Bell in the early 80s. He laughed and called it “Sputnik”. And thus began my fascination in space exploration at such a tender, young age. And also my fastidious eyeballing I do to anything I order from a restaurant. And don’t worry, he got his money back, and we went to Pizza Hut. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944/45 "2011-09-04T05:25:29Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > What sort of equipment and what does “talk to it” mean? Theoretically, a Ham radio operator could talk the spacecraft, but he would need to know the uplink and downlink frequencies, the satellites ID number, and a command/telemetry codes. Along with authorization from the FCC, NASA, DHS, DOD, etc. Not sure it’s worth the effort, unless you can get a QSL card out of it. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944/46 "2011-09-04T09:03:19Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > What sort of equipment and what does “talk to it” mean? Swap recipes. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2011, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944/47 "2011-09-04T09:57:27Z")
Interestingly, the panic in America after Sputnik was launched led the US government, about 100 days later, to form the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA), which eventually led to connecting a bunch of computers in a network, which eventually became “the Internet”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944/48 "2011-09-04T15:25:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Leaving aside the obvious jokes there, Laika the dog was on Sputnik 2 (AKA Muttnik), not the original, and was euthanized while still in space, well before re-entry. Nonsense, Laika returned to Earth safely and founded a surf-rock group, [Laika and the Cosmonauts](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqxlrOXgYkk). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sputnik-still-orbiting-the-earth/594944.md?page=2)