LIFE OF FIRST SPUTNIK
“Ceased To Exist On January 4”
(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8 p.m.) MOSCOW, Jan. 20. The Soviet news agency, Tass, said tonight that Sputnik No. I ceased to exist on January 4.
This was the first official Soviet confirmation that the satellite had disintegrated. Tass said it had been established through observation and trajectory calculations that the first satellite penetrated the denser layers of the atmosphere and evaporated on that date. The agency said that its penetration into the denser atmospheric strata and disintegration were not registered directly. The satellite, which was fired on October 4 last year, continued circling the earth for 92 days. During that time it made about POO revolutions and covered some 37 million miles—about the distance between Earth and Mars when at their closest.
Tass said tonight that, in conformity with its obligations, the Soviet International Geophysical Year committee had prepared and was circulating a preliminary scientific report to organisations taking part in the I.G.Y.
Tass said a correspondent had been told that the calculations of Soviet scientists concerning the life-span of the first Sputnik had been “fully confirmed.”
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Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28491, 22 January 1958, Page 11
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188LIFE OF FIRST SPUTNIK Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28491, 22 January 1958, Page 11
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