On October 4, Russian ISS crew members Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner congratulated earthlings on the 63rd anniversary of the beginning of a new space era.
Ivanishin recalled that on this day in 1957, the first satellite of planet Earth was launched into space from the territory of the Soviet Union.
“It is from this day that the entire national and world cosmonautics counts. Thanks to the work of our scientists and designers, we have taken the first step in space exploration, ”the astronaut noted.
In turn, Wagner called on people to jointly explore the vastness of the Universe “in our common interests.” In addition, he especially thanked the veterans of space exploration and wished health, happiness and success to those whose lives are associated with this industry.
The first artificial satellite “Sputnik – 1” was launched on October 4, 1957 from the Baikonur cosmodrome and delivered into orbit by the Soviet R-7 rocket. A number of scientists headed by the founder of practical cosmonautics Sergey Korolev worked on its creation.
The Soviet aircraft successfully flew 92 days, until January 4, 1958, completing 1440 revolutions around the Earth.