Where does this come from, and can I check it?

The Soviet Union sphere orbited Earth in 1957 to ignite the Space Race. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Institution, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a space fact?

Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite launched into Earth orbit

The Soviet Union sphere orbited Earth in 1957 to ignite the Space Race

On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 1 into low Earth orbit. The 83-kilogram polished metal sphere carried radio transmitters that broadcast distinctive beep-beep signals across global radio frequencies for 21 days, marking the dawn of the Space Age.

Sputnik photograph — Wikimedia Commons contributor · CC BY-SA 3.0 · licence · source

Where this comes from

Smithsonian Institution

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

History trivia Weight Converter

More facts like this

Curiosity rover sang Happy Birthday to itself on Mars in 2013Engineers programmed vibrating sample frequencies to hum the melody Perseverance rover generated breathable oxygen from Martian airThe MOXIE instrument extracted pure oxygen from atmospheric carbon dioxide The Sun outer corona is hundreds of times hotter than its surfaceWhile the solar surface sits at 5,500 degrees C the corona reaches millions The Event Horizon Telescope captured the first direct image of a black holeA global network of radio telescopes imaged the supermassive black hole in M87 Brown dwarfs are failed stars that cannot sustain core nuclear fusionSubstellar objects bridge the evolutionary gap between giant gas planets and stars A hypernova is an exceptionally energetic supernova explosionCollapsing massive stars generate blinding flashes and long gamma-ray bursts

Tags: sputnik, satellite, space race

Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite launched into Earth orbit: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: The Soviet Union sphere orbited Earth in 1957 to ignite the Space Race. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Institution, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a space fact?: Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.