October commemorated the 50th anniversary of one of the most far-reaching man-made astronomical events in history – the launch of Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite, at 19:12 UT on 4th October 1957 by the then USSR. Shocking political news for the West – here was proof that Russian technology was far ahead of Western, and particularly American, technology! But there was more to it than just the Russians being first. The Americans had also planned to launch their own earth Satellite, Vanguard, in 1957, but this weighed just over 3 lbs compared with Sputnik 1, which weighed over 180 lbs! America’s humiliation was compounded by a series of failed Vanguard launch attempts following Sputnik I, and the events of this whole unhappy time for America prompted their government to set up the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in October 1958, “… to provide for research into the problems of flight within and outside the Earth's atmosphere, and for other purposes …” It is arguable that if an American satellite had been first in orbit instead of Sputnik I, there would have been no “space race”, no NASA, and possibly, even yet, no man on the Moon! One of the most far-reaching man-made astronomical events in history indeed!

Sputnik I was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Some years later the rocket that lifted Yuri Gagarin into space was also launched from here. To this day, all Russian crewed manned missions are launched from Baikonur, as well as all lunar and planetary missions, and all space station flights using Russian launch vehicles.

The name Baikonur is a telling example of the secrecy that surrounded the Russian "space-race" missions. The name and published coordinates used by the Russians in the late 1950's to define the location of the Cosmodrome actually refer to a small mining town, about 200 miles away! Although the true location is now known to be near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan, about 1300 miles SE of Moscow, it is still referred to as Baikonur.