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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sputnik 2 | 2/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_2 | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:23:18.844833+00:00 | kb-cron |
Sputnik 2 was the first platform capable of making scientific measurements in orbit. This was potentially as significant as the biological payload. The Earth's atmosphere blocks the Sun's X-ray and ultraviolet output from ground observation. Moreover, solar output is unpredictable and fluctuates rapidly, making sub-orbital sounding rockets inadequate for the observation task. Thus a satellite is required for long-term, continuous study of the complete solar spectrum. Accordingly, Sputnik 2 carried two spectrophotometers, one for measuring solar ultraviolet rays and one for measuring X-rays. These instruments were provided by Professor Sergei Mandelstam of the Lebedev Institute of Physics and installed in the nose cone above the spherical PS. In addition, Sergei Vernov, who had completed a cosmic ray detector (using Geiger counters) for Object D, demanded that the instrument his Moscow University team (including Naum Grigoriev, Alexander Chudakov, and Yuri Logachev) had built also be carried on the flight. Korolev agreed, but as there was no more room on the satellite proper, the instrument was mounted on the Blok A and given its own battery and telemetry frequency. Engineering and biological data were transmitted using the Tral_D telemetry system, which would transmit data to Earth for 15 minutes of each orbit.
== Launch preparations == Sputnik 2's launch vehicle, the R-7 ICBM (also known by the system's GRAU index 8K71) was modified for the PS-2 satellite launch and designated 8K71PS. 8K71PS serial number M1-2PS arrived at the NIIP-5 Test Range, the precursor to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, on 18 October 1957 for final integration of the rocket stages and satellite payload. Laika was put in the payload container mid-day 31 October, and that night, the payload was attached to the rocket. The container was heated via an external tube against the cold temperatures at the launch site.
== Mission ==
Sputnik 2 was launched at 02:30:42 UTC on 3 November 1957 from LC-1 of the NIIP-5 Test Range via Sputnik 8K71PS rocket (the same pad and rocket that launched Sputnik 1) The satellite's orbit was 212 km × 1,660 km (132 mi × 1,031 mi) with a period of 103.7 minutes. After reaching orbit Sputnik 2's nose cone was jettisoned successfully, but the satellite did not separate from the Blok A. This, along with the loss of some thermal insulation, caused temperatures in the spacecraft to soar. At peak acceleration, Laika's respiration increased to between three and four times the pre-launch rate. The sensors showed her heart rate was 103 beats/min before launch and increased to 240 beats/min during the early acceleration. After three hours of weightlessness, Laika's pulse rate had settled back to 102 beats/min, three times longer than it had taken during earlier ground tests, an indication of the stress she was under. The early telemetry indicated that Laika was agitated but eating her food. After approximately five to seven hours into the flight, no further signs of life were received from the spacecraft. The Soviet scientists had planned to euthanise Laika with a serving of poisoned food. For many years, the Soviet Union gave several conflicting statements that she had died either from asphyxia, when the batteries failed, or that she had been euthanised. Many rumours circulated about the exact manner of her death. In 1999, several Russian sources reported that Laika had died when the cabin overheated on the fourth day. In October 2002, Dimitri Malashenkov, one of the scientists behind the Sputnik 2 mission, revealed that Laika had died by the fourth circuit of flight from overheating. According to a paper he presented to the World Space Congress in Houston, Texas, "It turned out that it was practically impossible to create a reliable temperature control system in such limited time constraints." Because of the size of Sputnik 2 and its attached Blok A, the spacecraft was easy to track optically. In its last orbits, the combined body tumbled end over end, flashing brightly before it was incinerated over the north Atlantic after circling the Earth 2,370 times over the course of 162 days. The spacecraft reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 14 April 1958, at approximately 0200 hrs, on a line that stretched from New York to the Amazon. Its track was plotted by British ships and three "Moon Watch Observations", from New York. It was said to be glowing and did not develop a tail until it was at latitudes south of 20° North. Estimates put the average length of the tail at about 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi).
== Results ==
=== Geopolitical impact === Massing 508.3 kg (1,121 lb), Sputnik 2 marked a dramatic leap in orbital mass over Sputnik 1 as well as the American Vanguard, which had yet to fly. The day after Sputnik 2 went into orbit the Gaither committee met with President Eisenhower to brief him on the current situation, demanding an urgent and more dramatic response than to the smaller Sputnik 1. It was clear now that the Soviets had missiles far superior to any in the American arsenal, a fact whose demonstration by Sputnik 2 was eagerly propounded by Soviet Premier Khrushchev at every opportunity. In the U.S.S.R., just six days after the launch of Sputnik 2, on the 40th anniversary of the October revolution, Khrushchev boasted in a speech “Now our first Sputnik is not lonely in its space travels.” Nevertheless, unlike most of the U.S., President Eisenhower kept calm through the time afterward just as he did after Sputnik 1 was launched. According to one of the president's aides, “The president's burning concern was to keep the country from going hog-wild and from embarking on foolish, costly schemes.”