A Sputnik 4 Saga
- Paper number
IAC-07-E4.1.05
- Author
Dr. Charles Lundquist, University of Alabama in Huntsville, United States
- Year
2007
- Abstract
The Sputnik 4 launch occurred on 1960 May 15. On May 19, an attempt to deorbit a ‘space cabin’ failed and the cabin went into a higher orbit. The orbit of the launch vehicle was monitored and Moonwatch volunteer satellite tracking teams were alerted to watch for the vehicle demise. On 1960 Sep 5, several team members from Milwaukee made observations starting at 4:49am of a fireball following the predicted orbit of Sputnik 4. Requests went out to report any objects found under the fireball path. An early morning police patrol in Manitowoc had noticed a metal object on a street and had moved it to the curb. Later the officers recovered the object and had it dropped off at the Milwaukee Journal. The Moonwarch team got the object and reported the situation to Moonwatch Headquarters at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. A team member flew to Cambridge with the object. It was a solid, 20-pound piece of steel with a slag-like layer attached to it. Subsequent analyses showed that it contained radioactive nuclei produced by cosmic ray exposure in space. The scientists at the Observatory quickly recognized that measurements of its induced radioactivity could serve as a calibration for similar measurements of recently fallen nickel-iron meteorites. Concurrently, the Observatory directorate informed government agencies that a fragment from Sputnik 4 had been recovered. Coincidently, a debate in the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space involved the issue of liability for damage caused by falling satellite fragments. On September 12, the Observatory was directed to deliver the bulk of the fragment to the US Delegation to the UN. Two days later, the fragment was used by US Ambassador Francis Plimpton as an exhibit that the time had come to agree on liability for damage from satellite debris. He offered the Sputnik 4 fragment to USSR Ambassador P.D. Morozov, who refused the offer. On October 23, Drs. Alla Masevich and E. Federov of the USSR visited the Observatory. They were shown the Sputnik 4 fragment. Measurements on the fragment were reported at the American Geophysical Union meeting on December 28, 1962. Early in January, 1963, the Soviet Embassy told the State Department that the USSR wished to accept the remaining fragment. On January 5, 1963 it was picked up by the Soviet Embassy. This four-month saga dramatically illustrated the need for international agreements on satellite debris issues.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-E4.1.05.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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