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Re: (meteorobs) OT Fwd: First object in space



Title: Re: (meteorobs) OT Fwd: First object in space
For those who might be interested i remember the following item which I read as a kid in Sky and Telescope:

On October 16, 1957 the USAF successfully launched pellets at a speed faster than 15 km/sec (some 3.5 km/sec faster than the velocity necessary to escape from the earth) with an Aerobee rocket. The nose section of the rocket ascended to a height of 87 km where shaped charges blasted the pellets into space. It is claimed that the Superschmidt Telescope at Sacremento Peak photographed the trajectory with a rotating shutter. These little metal pellets would therefore be the first objects to be shot into interplanetary space, months before the first launch to escape velocity (Luna 1, January 1959).

Clear skies,

TRR
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Terry Richardson

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Terry Richardson
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