The First Object In Space Is Not What You Think #shorts #science #space #spacehistory
43Full video: https://youtu.be/rHWG3nF50B8
Who sent the first manmade object to space? If you don’t know much about early space travel you might say the United States. If you know a little more the first thing that might come to mind is Sputnik, launched by the Soviet Union. Actually though, neither is correct.
Sputnik is far from the first object sent to space. It was the first manmade object to orbit the Earth, which is a far bigger achievement than simply getting to space, and is why Sputnik is generally considered the start of the Space Race.
Sputnik was launched in 1957, but the first manmade object sent to space was in 1944, 13 years before Sputnik. This might sound surprising at first. Who, you might ask, was sending things to space in 1944? If you know very much about what was happening at the time though the answer shouldn’t be too surprising.
Before answering this question though we need to understand what it means for an object to enter space. NASA defines the edge of space to be 50 miles, or about 80 kilometres. The more commonly accepted definition though is the Kármán line, which is 100 kilometres. So the first manmade object in space is simply the first to reach 100 kilometres.
On 20 June 1944, MW 18014, a V-2 rocket launched by Nazi Germany, reached an apogee of 176 kilometres, becoming the first manmade object to reach space.
So Nazi Germany was the first. This isn’t terribly surprising when you consider that the early American and Soviet space programs were both started with captured German scientists and equipment.
The V-2 was used by both the US and USSR for several years. The United States became the second country to send an object to space, launching a captured V-2, called V-2 No. 3, on 10 May 1946, which reached an altitude of 112.6 kilometres. On 24 October 1946, the US launched V-2 No. 13, which reached 104.6 kilometres, and took the first ever photo of the Earth from space.
The first Soviet launch was also a V-2. Called the T-01, it launched on 18 October 1947, and reached 207 kilometres.
If you liked this video and would like to see more like it, be sure to like and subscribe!