Beginning of Essay
3,2,1, Launch poof! The satellite goes soaring into space. The rocket breaks apart leaving behind only the satellite. The long awaited launch of the first satellite, Sputnik 1, has been confirmed. A satellite is a man made object, put into space for the purpose ....

Middle of Essay
.... so great after World War II that by 1954 the possibility of launching a satellite was no longer in serious doubt. In October 1954 the Committee for the International Geophysical Year (IGY), announced to other countries that they were considering launching small satellite vehicles for space exploration. In April and again in July 1955 the USSR and the U.S. announced plans to launch for the IGY. The USSR launched SPUTNIK 1 on Oct. 4, 1957, and the United States launched EXPLORER 1 on Jan. 31, 1958. These two provided a lot of information for further work on . Emphasis was first placed on to measure the characteristics of the new space environment a ....