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50 years in space

FITTINGLY, celebrations are being held across Russia to mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite, Sputnik, that marked the beginning of the space age – the last frontier and the road to the future.

The space race was one of the few positive inter-superpower contests of the Cold War era, which was otherwise a time dominated by arms races, military confrontations and the like. And while Sputnik’s launch did grant the Soviets an unprecedented propaganda coup, it also meant man had finally set foot into the final frontier, even if not literally, and started a process that could only march forward.

The beginning was simple indeed. Hardly twice the size of a foot ball and weighing roughly equal to a full grown man, it would have been near impossible to predict the rapid compound improvements space technology would be able to register in the coming half-century. From one satellite 50 years ago that was visible to the naked eye and sent a beep that every radio set could pick up, we now have in excess of 800 extremely complex satellites orbiting the Earth, contributing to communication, surveillance and navigation needs round the clock.

On a yet more positive note, while numerous countries are springing space programmes of their own, it is heartening to note that after years of slump, the Russian programme is ready to be up and about again. Though the long years of economic turmoil have left it in no position to rival NASA presently, President Putin has okayed $12 billion for the next decade. The first satellite, the first animal and man in space and the first man on the moon were all developments catalysed by the furious race for superiority between Moscow and Washington. Tapping on the same spirit positively, the two can again enter into a rivalry that can prove beneficial for all of us for whom space is a fascination and the inevitable future.