Inside Sputnik-1's shiny, heat resistant carapace rested these internal components: After its final assembly, the satellite was filled with nitrogen, achieving internal pressure of 1.3 atmospheres.

Sputnik. The first artificial satellite, the launch of which precipitated ... to say that we might not yet have many of the tools and components we take for granted as electronics enthusiasts ...

Furthermore, the batteries dying before a month's time didn't stop Sputnik from staying in orbit. The satellite orbited Earth for a total of 92 days before it broke apart and fell back to Earth.

Several replicas of the Sputnik 1 satellite have been showcased at museums in Russia, and another is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Soon after Sputnik’s launch ... African space industry employs several hundred people. Most manufacture satellite components for export from the Western Cape towns of Somerset West and Stellenbosch.

By John Yoon and Hisako Ueno Since Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957 ... in Florida carrying the world’s first satellite model with wooden components, marking a potential shift in space engineering ...