The sputnik was the first artificial earth satellite. It was a polished metal sphere 23 inches in diameter and had 4 antennas to broadcast radio signals.
It was launched in Gagarin start on October 4 1957 by the soviet union. The launch almost failed because the main engines started later than expected.
The sputnik only had 1 watt of power and was only 184 pounds. Its flight path virtually cover the entire earth.
The launch of the sputnik lead America into a global crisis in fear of a technological advancement of the soviet union than the U.S.
the launch of Sputnik served to intensify the arms race and raise Cold War tensions
The launch of sputnik was a instrument in the creation of Nasa. The fear that the U.S had fallen behind that made America rush the space program
NASA
The Sputnik orbited for three weeks operational than the batteries died where it orbited for three more months where it fell back to earth on January 4th 1958
The Sputnik made 1440 orbits and reached a speed of 8 km/s (18,000 mph)and took 96.20 minuets to complete every orbit it travel 43 million miles