# The first man-made object in space **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2002, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965 "2002-04-22T10:53:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maloney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Maloney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maloney)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/1 "2002-04-22T10:53:26Z")
Australia has a guru all it’s own - Dr. Karl Kruzselnicki. Medical doctor and all round smart guy. He’s written some twenty books as this web site attests :- > **[ABC Radio PERTH](https://www.abc.net.au/radio/perth/)** > > ABC Radio Perth - For the latest features, programs, news, audio, podcasts, sport, the latest weather for Beverley, Bickley, Gingin, Gosnells City, Jandakot, Jurien, Karnet, Lancelin, Mandurah, Medina, Moora, Northam, Pearce, Perth, Perth Ap,... At this address you can also find a sound file of his take on “Mike the Headless Chicken” and other stuff. In one of his books, I think it was called “Great Moments in Science” he says that the first man made object in space was the cover of a missile silo ejected into space by an accidental missile detonation within the silo some time during the cold war. Dr Karl doesn’t tell lies and I’ve retold this story a number of times over the years but of late I’ve begun to question many things I held dear, primarily because of The Straight Dope. So I open this question to those most likely to know THE TRUTH. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/2 "2002-04-22T11:35:34Z")
A missile silo cover is, I think, made of tons of reinforced concrete. There is NO WAY an explosion blew it into space. Maybe you mean a missile nose cone cover? It may have been the first in space, immediately followed by the rest of the missile. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/3 "2002-04-22T11:37:05Z")
The question is not defined enough. You mean object that went into orbit? Or just into “space”? And how would you define “space”? How many miles above the earth’s surface? ---
**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:** [April 22, 2002, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/4 "2002-04-22T11:38:22Z")
Phooey! The first object to leave the Earth’s atmosphere was a V-2 missile. ---
**Author:** ![Maloney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Maloney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maloney)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/5 "2002-04-22T11:53:53Z")
I seem to recall Dr K describes the object as 300 Kg of steel. “Space” is when it doesn’t come down again, of course. A date for the V2 rocket would be handy. I know I was vague with “the Cold War” please don’t follow my example. Looks like I’ll have to find his book just to give us a proper benchmark. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/6 "2002-04-22T12:08:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Maloney \* > **"Space" is when it doesn’t come down again, of course.** No ‘of course’ about it, I’m afraid; I squirted a water pistol into the air on a hot day and some of the water didn’t come back down again; did it go into space? I find it most improbable that an explosion on the earth’s surface would eject an object into orbit without destroying it in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/7 "2002-04-22T12:11:08Z")
V2s (originally called A4), first fired against England in, 1944, travelled in a maximum altitude of 85 kilometres , one technical reference book tells me. IIRC, convention defines “space” as everything above 100 km, so it didn’t reach “space”. The first heavier-than-air objects to reach stratosphere, I read, were the projectiles of German 120 km distance guns fired on Paris in 1918. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/8 "2002-04-22T14:00:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Maloney \* > \*\* > “Space” is when it doesn’t come down again, of course. > \*\* that would also mean that Alan B. Shepherd wasn’t the first American in space, as is usually claimed, because he didn’t make a full orbit. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/9 "2002-04-22T14:06:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Maloney \* > \*\*“Space” is when it doesn’t come down again, of course. > \*\* That would also mean Skylab was never in “space.” :rolleyes: If your question is “what is the first manmade object to leave the earth and never return?” I think the answer would be the first unmanned probe that the Russians landed on the moon. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/10 "2002-04-22T14:16:05Z")
This happens to be the current column on [The Last Word](http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/). I expect the url for this item will change. At present it’s still got coding errors on it. Short answer: no. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/11 "2002-04-22T14:16:08Z")
\>\> “Space” is when it doesn’t come down again, of course. So what’s your definition os “in orbit”? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/12 "2002-04-22T14:24:03Z")
\>\> I find it most improbable that an explosion on the earth’s surface would eject an object into orbit without destroying it in the process. I would say impossible for several reasons. One is that an object traveling through the lower atmosphere at escape velocity would not last long. Another is that to impart escape velocity you would need a huge acceleration over some time which means an ultra long cannon. To acceleration needed to impart escape velocity in a fraction of a second (explosion) would destroy anything. And probably not even a nuclear explosion would put anything in orbit. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/13 "2002-04-22T14:27:14Z")
The first manmade object to orbit the Earth was Sputnick 1, launched in 1957. Does Dr. Kruzselnicki give a date, a location, or any other infromation about this supposed silo incident? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/14 "2002-04-22T14:39:29Z")
From **hawthorne** ’s link: > [@](#): > > At the end of the Second World War, several captured German V2 rockets were taken to the White Sands missile range in Mexico and fired straight upwards for high-altitude research purposes–they typically reached 170 kilometres. Two or three of them had hollow conical explosive charges in their noses designed to squirt bits of metal upwards so that the meteor trails made by pellets of known composition could be observed. > > So the first manufactured objects to escape the Earth’s gravity completely were probably some of those mangled bits of aluminium that are now still in orbit somewhere around the Sun. Other than the part about White Sands being in Mexico as opposed to New Mexico…? ---
**Author:** ![Stinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@Stinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinky)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/15 "2002-04-22T14:44:51Z")
> [@](#): > > To acceleration needed to impart escape velocity in a fraction of a second (explosion) would destroy anything. And probably not even a nuclear explosion would put anything in orbit. True back in the fifties the U.S. experimented with A-Bomb powered spaceship. They had expected it to take five 1 megaton bombs just to reach orbit. But could not make a base plate strong enough to take the push of just one. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/16 "2002-04-23T09:34:44Z")
My father (a Division Director at NASA, currently), tells a wonderful story about one of the first underground nuclear tests. Dig a deep shaft in the desert, insert bomb, fill shaft with umpteen tons of rubble, and add a steel cap. He claims that he’s seen a frame from one of the cameras filming said test, and that the blurred streak captured there might well be a steel cap flung waaaay past escape velocity. I dunno, but this sounds somewhat plausible… ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/17 "2002-04-23T09:48:08Z")
Whoops, I didn’t see that link to the [NewScientist.com](http://NewScientist.com) before I posted… And to think I’ve been sharing that story with folks for the last 20 years. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/18 "2002-04-23T09:51:16Z")
Can someone smarter than myself calculate exactly what would happen if 300kg of steel shaped into a disc (say, five metres across?) were accelerated (in the space of, say, half a second) to escape velocity (taking into account that escape velocity in this case means overcoming not only gravity, but all that air resistance on the way up - with no additional thrust)? My WAG would be that pumping such energy into a (relatively)small piece of metal in such a short time would just vapourise it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/19 "2002-04-23T09:53:06Z")
Forget I asked that; I didn’t notice the NewScientist link either. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965/20 "2002-04-23T14:58:53Z")
The V-2’s fired against England in the war didn’t reach space, but V-2’s launched for the purpose of reaching space in the late 40’s did. Without other qualification, “reach space” usually means attaining an altitude of 100 km. The V-2 made it to about 350 km. [http://www.wsmr.army.mil/paopage/Pages/bump.htm](http://www.wsmr.army.mil/paopage/Pages/bump.htm) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-man-made-object-in-space/104965.md?page=2)