Air Force Designed News Today

Cessna O-2 Skymaster Aviators Excelled at critical missions.

March 11, 2021 at 2:26 pm The Space Race began in earnest on 4 October 1957, when the Soviets launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. Sputnik I orbited Earth roughly once every 96 minutes and was tracked by Soviet scientists for about 21 days, before its batteries died on 26 October 1958. Advertisement The USSR had begun the race to conquer space. On 4 January 1958, Sputnik I fell back towards Earth, burning up on re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, but by that stage the So...