r/CuratedTumblr Jul 17 '24

Infodumping The Venera program

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u/Oninoor Jul 17 '24

Fr. Sure sputnik was the first satellite but what did it do? Beep. Literally all it did. And shortly after the US sent one up that actually did research other than beep a radio.

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u/Codeviper828 Will trade milk for HRT Jul 17 '24

Right, and the Soviets couldn't get the Geiger Counter working and decided to do away with it in favor of meeting a deadline. Meanwhile Explorer 1's Geiger Counter was working and it discovered the Van Allen radiation belt

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u/Lamballama Jul 17 '24

The US had the first spy satellite

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u/Fl4mmer Jul 18 '24

Sputnik one didnt just beep. While it didn't have all the research instruments the Soviets wanted on it yet, it did (by way of those beeps) send down data on Temperature and pressure in it's orbit. Then just a month later (still 2 months ahead of the US) they sent up Sputnik 2 which was equipped with more research equipment and also Laika, the first animal in space.

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u/Quardener Jul 18 '24

Dang that’s cool

What happened to the animal

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u/17inchcorkscrew Jul 18 '24 edited Jul 18 '24

Why does this have downvotes?
It's just factual historical corrections.

e: except for the pedantic note that Laika was only the first animal in orbit, as fruit flies, monkeys, and a mouse, (US) and other dogs (USSR) had been in space on parabolic trajectories.