may 15, 1958 - Soviet Union -Sputnik 3 Launched The Soviet Union successfully launches the Sputnik 3 satellite on The satellite carried twelve experiments into space and its mission was to study the composition of the atmosphere and cosmic rays while orbiting the Earth. At the time, Sputnik 3 was the largest satellite ever launched and it weighed nearly 3000 pounds. The cone-shaped satellite remained operational for 692 days before it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in April of 1960,
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Date:
may 15, 1958
Now
~ 67 years ago