A technician working on Sputnik 1 in 1957, prior to its launch. After a mere 3 months in space, Sputnik 1 fell back to Earth due to atmospheric drag, a problem that plagues all low-Earth-orbiting satellites even today. (NASA/ASIF A. SIDDIQI)

This Is Why Sputnik Crashed Back To Earth After Only 3 Months

It’s a problem that we still haven’t solved, and it spells doom for all of our low-Earth orbiting satellites, even today.

On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, which rose up above Earth’s atmosphere and entered orbit around our planet, circumnavigating it one every 90 minutes. Under the extremely low light pollution conditions that existed across most of the world back then, it was the one-and-only object of its type: an artificial, human-made satellite. Unofficially, it marked the start of the space race, a military and political endeavor that would consume international politics for decades to come.

But Sputnik itself isn’t in orbit around Earth any longer. In fact, it was so short-lived that by time the United States successfully launched Explorer 1, the first American satellite in space, Sputnik 2, carrying the first animal in space, had already been orbiting Earth for months. But the original Sputnik, after over 1400 orbits, had already fallen back to Earth.

The three men responsible for the success of Explorer 1, America’s first Earth satellite which was launched January 31, 1958. William Pickering (L), James van Allen (middle), and Werner von Braun (right), were responsible for the satellite, the science instruments, and the rocket that launched Explorer 1, respectively. (NASA)