The First Satellite October 4 1957 marked the beginning of the space race between the United S tates

and Russia (U.S.S.R.) when the first artificial satellite was launched. On that date the Soviets stunned the world when "Sputnik" rode into an elliptical low orbit .Its official Russian name was Iskustvennyi Sputnik Zemli, or "Fellow Traveler of the Earth." The project Sputnik 1 started on 17 December 1954 , when Sergei Korolev as ked Dimitri Antoniou if he s interested in the development of an Earth orbiting sa tellite ,and the project began The launch took place exactly 19:28:34 (UTC) from the 5-th Tyuratam range, in Kazakh SSR (now at the Baikonur Cosmodrome) . Taken to space by a number 7 r ocket, Sputnik 1 reached speeds of 29.000 kilometers (18.000 miles) per hour, do ing a complete Earth orbit in 96.2 minutes. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm. or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds ,pressuriz ed with nitrogen ,and transmitted radio signals on 20.005 and 40.002 MHz to hear the satellite :http://www.amsat.org/amsat/features/sounds/sputnk1b.wav The signals continued for 22 days until the transmitter batteries ran out on 26 October 1957.Sputnik 1 burned up in the atmosphere upon reentering on 4 Ja nuary 1958, , after travelling about 60 million km (37 million miles) and spendi ng 3 months in orbit . The JPL community was surprised that the Soviets could have both a success ful launch vehicle and the electronic technology to operate the satellite. The United States needed an immediate response. The first attempt, the Nav al Research Lab's Vanguard project, failed. Their rocket exploded in full view o f the press, embarrassing the nation. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, the public feared that the So viets' ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launc h ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons Then the Soviets struck again; on November 3, Sputnik II was launched, car rying a much heavier payload, including a dog named Laika.

This metal arming key is the last remaining piece of the first Sputnik sat ellite. It prevented contact between the batteries and the transmitter prior to launch. Currently on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. See the full article with videos here http://www.thisisthefirst.com/tech/24-the-first-satellite