360What happened in 1957?
6 moments from 1957 on 360n60, each told in 60 words or fewer.
- History · 4 October 1957
Sputnik, the first satellite, starts the space age
On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. The metal sphere, about 58 centimetres wide, orbited the Earth every 96 minutes, sending radio beeps that people around the world could hear. It started the space age and the space race.
- On this day · 4 October 1957
Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, is launched
On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, a metal ball about 58 cm across with four long aerials. It circled the Earth every 96 minutes, sending out radio beeps that people around the world could hear. It began the space age.
- On this day · 3 November 1957
Laika becomes the first animal to orbit the Earth
On 3 November 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, carrying a dog named Laika. She was the first animal to orbit the Earth. The mission showed that a living creature could survive launch and weightlessness, helping prepare the way for human spaceflight four years later.
- 4 October 1957 · from Sputnik, the first satellite, starts the space age
Sputnik 1 launched
- 3 November 1957 · from Sputnik, the first satellite, starts the space age
Sputnik 2 carries Laika
- 1957 · from The 1950s: DNA, Everest and the space age
Sputnik launched; Treaty of Rome