Author
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Topic: What event began the 'Space Age'?
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Philip Member Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 01-05-2004 07:30 AM
Did the "Space Age" start in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik, or did it start a decade earlier when Project Hermes launched A4-rockets from White Sands Proving Grounds to altitudes of 100 kilomers and over 210 kilometers?What's your opinion? |
Scott Member Posts: 3307 From: Houston, TX Registered: May 2001
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posted 01-05-2004 09:57 AM
Every reference I have seen to the Space Age refers to the launch of Sputnik in October 1957 as its beginning. |
4tr Member Posts: 129 From: Scituate, Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 01-05-2004 11:59 AM
The world changed with the launch of Sputnik. The day before, most people would have regarded space exploration, if not a silly idea, then something that lay in the far future. The next day it was a reality. I was only twelve at the time, but I remember clearly the shock that rippled across the country.The space age had begun. |
spaceuk Member Posts: 2113 From: Staffs, UK Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 01-05-2004 03:04 PM
It is usually taken as launch of Sputnik in October 1957 which is when the general newspaper and tv press used such a phrase.But, that rivalry had really started a year earlier — in 1956 — when both USA and USSR both announced plans to orbit a satellite in support of International Geophysical Year (IGY). Also, the knowledge about the Soviet super-rocket was well known in the west even as early as 1953/4 when technical details and the name of the RD-103 engine and its thrust was known at that time. General details were also known and published by west about the Soviet super rocket, which we now know became the Sputnik/Vostok launcher and is still used as the main stage in Soyuz missions. It was also known that they would attempt to place a satellite into orbit about the earth and even try for the moon. But this knowledge was known only to astronautical engineers (and most probably CIA/MI5) who attended technical conferences. In particular, G.P. Sutton was very interested, in a private manner, with Soviet developments. He should he know as he was Supervisor Aerophysics Department at North American Aviation at the time in 1954 ! He published an article in 1954 about his findings. |
eurospace Member Posts: 2610 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Dec 2000
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posted 01-05-2004 04:04 PM
quote: Originally posted by Philip: ...A4-rockets from White Sands Proving Grounds
Already the first launch of the A4 on October 3, 1942, reached an altitude of over 190 kilometers. So the White Sands tests definitely have no place there. However, this trajectory was ballistic, so I wouldn't count it as the beginning of the space age, even if some adepts of the Peenemündians try make it this way. I agree with most contributors: October 4, 1957, first Sputnik. |
Glint Member Posts: 1040 From: New Windsor, Maryland USA Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 01-08-2004 12:22 PM
An arbitrary unambiguous date is 17 September, 1957. This is the starting date of the Julian Day for Space (JDS) system - the Julian date divisible by 100 prior to the Sputnik launch (JD 2,436,099.5) and offset to coincide with 0H UTC instead of the standard 12H UTC. Thus, spacecraft clocks could represent mission elapsed time (MET) using fewer bits, using JD 2,436,099.5 as the zero reference. Of course this is just a round about way of saying that the space age began with the launch of Sputnik. I was launched (i.e. born) just a few hours before Sputnik. My earliest space memory is watching a brilliant pass by an Echo satellite from the backyard when I was 3 or 4. |
Cozmosis22 Member Posts: 968 From: Texas * Earth Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 10-04-2019 01:27 PM
Happy Sputnik Day!Some 62 years later and still no moon colony.  |
MarylandSpace Member Posts: 1336 From: Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 10-04-2019 05:03 PM
I remember Sputnik being discussed at my Cub Scout meeting that night, Oct 4, 1957. |
Blackarrow Member Posts: 3118 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 10-04-2019 08:26 PM
Yes, the launch of Sputnik 1. Up until then, every rocket (dating back to the Chinese at least a thousand years ago) went up and came down. |
Mike Dixon Member Posts: 1397 From: Kew, Victoria, Australia Registered: May 2003
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posted 10-04-2019 08:59 PM
Agreed, Sputnik 1, but I just wonder how much sooner a manned Vostok 1 might have occurred had the Russians really pushed the timelines. |
ejectr Member Posts: 1751 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 10-05-2019 08:58 AM
I believe it was Sputnik that ignited the flame. As far as manned flight is concerned, the USSR had their own plans, but I'm sure knowing Shepard was going up soon hastened their schedule. They had to be first...they had to beat the US wherever and whenever they could. |
p51 Member Posts: 1642 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 10-05-2019 01:01 PM
Sputnik. Otherwise, you keep reaching back to earlier and earlier rocket launches, to the point you could argue the Chinese started it in the middle ages! |
star61 Member Posts: 294 From: Bristol UK Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 10-05-2019 02:01 PM
There seems to be a definite tendency to dismiss pre Sputnik ballistic launches. Assume the von Karman (Haley) line +/- a few 10s of klm depending on which physics model you want to apply, and a V2 launch in 1942 hits the mark. If this doesn't count then why does any X-15 astronaut flight or even the Shephard/Grissom flights count as spaceflights? The cultural beginning of the Space Age could easily be Sputnik, however, technically the V2 could be the real beginning. |
AstroCasey Member Posts: 42 From: Registered: Feb 2019
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posted 10-05-2019 08:09 PM
Technically, rockets were flying in space well before Sputnik. The A-4 (later V-2) launch on October 3, 1942 is often cited as the first object to leave Earth’s atmosphere. However, this launch didn’t cross the 100 km Karman line. That honor belongs to a vertically launched V-2 on June 20, 1944. Also notable among early rocket launches was the Bumper-Wac flight in 1949 that soared to an altitude of 244 miles. No question this was a spaceflight.However, one can make a strong case that Sputnik was the true start of the Space Age due to the panic it caused in the West. The fallout from this event is the spark that eventually led to people visiting the moon plus everything else that followed. Perhaps, October 3, 1942 can be thought of as the beginning of modern rocketry, but October 4, 1957 was the “real” beginning of the Space Age. |
Jonnyed Member Posts: 396 From: Dumfries, VA, USA Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 10-05-2019 09:09 PM
How about the Cape Girardeau UFO crash of 1941 as the beginning of the Space Age?Someone else's space age impacting us  |
moorouge Member Posts: 2454 From: U.K. Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 10-05-2019 11:54 PM
When did the space age begin? Surely the answer must be when man looked to the heavens and wondered who and what was there. If you need a date then it is somewhere around 150AD when Lucien of Samosata wrote about a trip to the moon and actually put those thoughts into the written word.First comes the dream and then the reality. The reality of Sputnik 1 can only come about if those that have the dream are determined to make it come true. |
Colin Anderton Member Posts: 151 From: Great Britain Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 10-06-2019 05:03 AM
Yes, but dreaming about something doesn't make it come true.In many ways, we each could give a different answer to this question; it depends on where you think space begins. Personally, I count it as the 400,000ft mark, where spacecraft begin to re-enter the atmosphere. I know the atmosphere expands and contracts to some degree, but each individual has to draw their own line somewhere. And yes, I know the so-called "official" line has been set at 62 miles, or 100 kilometres — but just because they make such a pronouncement doesn't make it true. That's why I personally don't count the X-15 pilots as astronauts. I suppose I generally agree that 4 October 1957 was the true beginning of the Space Age, but I wouldn't argue strongly against those who would put the case for the V2. |
oly Member Posts: 905 From: Perth, Western Australia Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 10-06-2019 08:07 AM
Searching the net for additional information on this subject reveals that Sputnik 1 is generally considered to be the "event" that began the space age.Consider the Wright brothers first flight, which began the age of flight. There had been many other attempts and experiments prior to the first flight, but the achievement of producing sufficient lift and thrust to balance the drag and gravity was achieved at this point. There were many advancements made post this event, many of which achieved high speed and high altitude flight, and there were many rocket launches conducted, but all failed to achieve the velocity to maintain orbital flight. Sputnik 1 achieved the velocity to achieve orbital flight. Just like the Wright brothers' first flight, Sputnik 1 was a short flight, but it marks the point in time when orbital flight was achieved. I would move this to the first crewed orbital flight, because, just like the Wright brothers, this flight was crewed. I believe that this fact divides the experiments from the achievements. |
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 10-06-2019 08:46 AM
One could make a case that the "Space Age" is a misnomer and that the true "Space Age" has yet to begin.If you consider previous ages, such as the Copper and Bronze ages, or the Industrial and Information ages, their starts are not marked by a singular event, but are more a general description of when a transition was made on a large-scale order to a new type of material or economy. While the utilization of space is wide scale, it has yet to have the impact that computers and the internet have had, for example. It might be that the true Space Age will not begin until there is mass access to space — thousands, if not millions of people capable of leaving Earth, rather than just several hundred. |
moorouge Member Posts: 2454 From: U.K. Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 10-06-2019 02:07 PM
quote: Originally posted by Colin Anderton: Yes, but dreaming about something doesn't make it come true.
True — but to misquote from South Pacific — if you don't have a dream how you gonna make that dream come true. |
oly Member Posts: 905 From: Perth, Western Australia Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 10-07-2019 03:20 AM
quote: Originally posted by Robert Pearlman: One could make a case that the "Space Age" is a misnomer and that the true "Space Age" has yet to begin.
Robert, you make a good point that shows optimism towards the future of the space industry. The term "space age" is used to describe many things, including items of design or technology that are considered futuristic or "space aged," as well as a time period whereby humans began operations "in space." I like to consider many of the past programs to be precursor events to the time when spaceflight is readily available to the masses. Space is an arena that many businesses used to generate income, including aerospace and telecommunications companies. Space tourism is making signs and noises, if not real progress, and the ISS has been occupied long enough for people born during its construction to now be adults. We are in the celebration of 50 years since Apollo, and the Shuttle program has come and gone. These things indicate that we are living in a "space Age", which may or may not look like the way it was envisioned in the past. It may be taking longer to build momentum than many predicted. |
AstronautBrian Member Posts: 287 From: Louisiana Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 10-07-2019 09:13 AM
It can be argued either way, but history seems to pinpoint the launch of Sputnik as the beginning of the space age, and that seems to be fair. History likes exact dates. It could be argued that World War II began in 1937 with the Japanese invasion of China, or even as far back as 1932/33, but it's accepted that it began on September 1, 1939 no matter what. |
mikepf Member Posts: 441 From: San Jose, California, USA Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 10-07-2019 04:44 PM
quote: Originally posted by Glint: I was launched (i.e. born) just a few hours before Sputnik.
We be twins? I was born Oct 3, 1957, the day before the Sputnik launch. I think that is why everyone says I have nothing in my head but space. |
Jonnyed Member Posts: 396 From: Dumfries, VA, USA Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 10-08-2019 08:39 PM
quote: Originally posted by Robert Pearlman: If you consider previous ages, such as the Copper and Bronze ages, or the Industrial and Information ages, their starts are not marked by a singular event, but are more a general description of when a transition was made on a large-scale order to a new type of material or economy.
Robert's insights here make sense but I wanted to offer a counterexample:The "Atomic Age" began with a singular event: the first nuclear test explosion in July 1945. Perhaps similar rationale can be applied to the "Space Age" and Sputnik? |
Philip Member Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 10-09-2019 07:15 AM
During October we always remember the breaking of the sound barrier by Chuck Yeager. His career led up to the AFARPS - Air Force Aerospace Research Pilots School — where future astronauts were formed (Borman, McDivitt, Stafford, Scott to name a few).I enjoyed this topic, thanks to all! |
Headshot Member Posts: 864 From: Vancouver, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 10-30-2019 02:45 PM
quote: Originally posted by Jonnyed: The "Atomic Age" began with a singular event: the first nuclear test explosion in July 1945.
I respectfully disagree. The first controlled nuclear chain reaction, on 2 December 1942 at the University of Chicago, is what started it all. Before that event, it was all just equations and theory.I guess the point is sometimes one needs historical perspective to define a beginning. I know that for me, the Space Age began when Sputnik was launched. Even as a very self-absorbed eight-year old, I was keenly aware something momentous had occurred. I did not grasp the significance, but when a news commentator rebroadcast Sputnik's signal and said, "Listen now to the sound that forever separates the old from the new," I knew I had to understand. |
Jonnyed Member Posts: 396 From: Dumfries, VA, USA Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 10-30-2019 07:16 PM
From Wikipedia: The phrase "Atomic Age" was coined by William L. Laurence, a New York Times journalist who became the official journalist for the Manhattan Project which developed the first nuclear weapons."The Atomic Age, also known as the Atomic Era, is the period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear weapon, The Gadget at the Trinity test in New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, during World War II. Although nuclear chain reactions had been hypothesized in 1933 and the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction (Chicago Pile-1) had taken place in December 1942, the Trinity test and the ensuing bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II represented the first large-scale use of nuclear technology and ushered in profound changes in sociopolitical thinking and the course of technology development. Again, similar to the distinctiveness of the Trinity Test beginning the Atomic Age, perhaps the Space Age can be definitely tied to the distinctiveness of Sputnik 1. |
Blackarrow Member Posts: 3118 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 11-01-2019 01:36 PM
Yes, no arguments from me on that. But it does beg several questions: on 4th October 1957 did the "Atomic Age" end and the "Space Age" begin, or did the two "Ages" continue in parallel? If so, has either the "Atomic Age" or the "Space Age" (or both) ended? If so, when and why? (It may seem obvious that we are still in the "Space Age" but if "modern" means "of today", what is "post-modern?") |
oly Member Posts: 905 From: Perth, Western Australia Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 11-01-2019 08:14 PM
Just because the Bronze Age was superseded by subsequent "ages" does not mean that the manufacturing of items from bronze ceased. The art, culture, and philosophy of the time changed for many reasons, but the descriptor of "Bronze" has been used as a measure of the level of technology for the time and the terms are used to define a period of significance. To use the term postmodern implies the movement of postmodernism, which followed the movement of modernism. Modernism relates to a sequence of cultural movements that happened in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Postmodernism describes a broad movement that developed in the late 20th-century and focused on philosophy, the arts, architecture, and criticism which marked a departure from modernism. It would be difficult to divide the Atomic Age and the Space Age, there are numerous technology overlaps, several distinctive fashion and art eras, and similar political and social strategies during these times. We would need to define what the "Space Age" signifies, and I believe that we cannot do that yet because we are still in the infancy stage of spaceflight while the Atomic Age maturity is difficult to identify. As such, we cannot associate the Space Age with any specific cultural movement that has not occurred yet, only the ones that have so far. The original question asked what event began the Space Age, the consensus appears to identify Sputnik 1 as the milestone zero marker. How many markers will eventually make up the road is yet to be determined. |
Blackarrow Member Posts: 3118 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 11-01-2019 09:03 PM
I did have my tongue slightly in my cheek when I invoked post-modernism. I anticipated someone suggesting we might now be in the "post-Space Age." I think we are all agreed that the Space Age began with Sputnik 1, but it's a long time since I heard anyone actually referring to either the "Atomic Age" or the "Space Age" except in historical terms. There was a certain "Atomic Age culture" including films such as "Them" or "The Atomic Kid." You haven't seen that sort of thing for a long time.* I wonder if the "Atomic Age" gave way to the "post-Atomic Age" after (most) countries stopped creating mushroom clouds. If so, might we say that the "Space Age" ended with Apollo and gave way to the "post-Space Age?" *Unless you count recent King Kong and Godzilla films. |