On this day in 1957, the Soviet Union inaugurated the "Space Age"
with its launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for "satellite,"
was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch
base in the Kazakh Republic. Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches
and weighed 184 pounds and circled Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Traveling at 18,000 miles an hour, its elliptical orbit had
an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 584 miles and a perigee
(nearest point) of 143 miles.

Visible with binoculars before sunrise or after sunset, Sputnik transmitted radio signals back to Earth strong enough to be
picked up by amateur radio operators. Those in the United States
with access to such equipment tuned in and listened in awe as the
beeping Soviet spacecraft passed over America several times a day.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963)

An optimistic and upbeat President John F. Kennedy suggested
that the Soviet Union and the United States cooperate on a
mission to mount an expedition to the moon. The proposal
caught both the Soviets and many Americans off guard.

In 1961, shortly after his election as president, John F. Kennedy announced that he was determined to win the “space race” with
the Soviets.

The Pentagon on Thursday announced the launch of a new
website with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office
(AARO), which will provide the public with declassified
information about UFOs, or what the government calls
unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said at a
press briefing that the new website will provide the public
with information including videos and photos associated
with resolved UAP cases as they are declassified and
approved for public release. (FOX NEWS)

The new website can be accessed at aaro.mil

 
CAMILLE BOHANNON

Voyager 2 launched by a Titan-Centaur rocket.

The U.S. Congress passed legislation establishing the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
a civilian agency responsible for coordinating America’s
activities in space, on July 29, 1958. NASA has since
sponsored space expeditions, both human and mechanical,
that have yielded vital information about the solar system
and universe. It has also launched numerous earth-orbiting
satellites that have been instrumental in everything from
weather forecasting to navigation to global communications.

NASA was created in response to the Soviet Union’s October
4, 1957 launch of its first satellite, Sputnik I.