xxIMAGE sputnik1.lbm,The Space Age began on 4 October 1957 when Russia launched Sputnik 1. The gleaming aluminium sphere measuring 58cm across and weighing 83kg carried a radio transmitter which transmitted its distinctive beep for 3 weeks. It remained in orbit for 96 days.
IMAGE 300_399\376.Lbm,A mural at the Baikonur launch site commemorating the ASTP mission in July 1975.
IMAGE 900_999\950.Lbm,The 76-metre diameter radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, one of the largest fully steerable instruments in the world. Its early triumph was to track Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.