The Space Age began 50 years ago today when the first manmade object lifted off beyond the Earth's gravity and changed the planet forever. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite, on a Russian R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile out of Tyuratam, Kazakhstan. Sputnik I was a basketball-sized aluminum sphere weighing 184 pounds with two radio transmitters and four antennae. Those transmitters sent out the familiar "Beep ... beep ... beep" that ham radio operators around the world could listen to, and that signaled the dawn of a new technological era. Sputnik would operate for three weeks, and then last in orbit for three months before burning up in the atmosphere.

The launch of Sputnik had serious repercussions in a time of Cold War between two superpowers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. While media around the world including the U.S. heralded the momentous accomplishment, at the same time it called into question America's technological dominance. It also struck paranoia in the West that the Communists had achieved the capability to deliver an atomic warhead all the way around the world. The reality that later came to light was not quite so fearsome. In fact, the first artificial satellite was a spur-of-the-moment gamble by one visionary scientist to persuade a dubious Kremlin to lead the way into space.

The father of Sputnik, Sergei Korolyov, was never known until after his death in 1966, due to Soviet secrecy. One of his colleagues, Boris Chertok, now 95, recently spoke to reporters in Moscow to tell what really went on during those heady days behind the Iron Curtain. His revelations can be read in an Associated Press story at this Space.com link.

The Soviets would go on to boast several significant firsts in space (making one Pavel Chekov very proud!): Only a month after Sputnik 1 went up, the much larger Sputnik II was launched with the world's first living being in space — a mongrel dog named Laika, who died after a week. Then on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to touch the infinite. But it was the U.S., of course, that grabbed the brass ring by landing men on the Moon and bringing them home safely, 12 years after Sputnik.

The Star Trek universe has commemorated this historical event in a variety of ways. For one, Sputnik was depicted in "Carbon Creek," in a story about a small crew of Vulcans who began monitoring Earth when the artificial satellite entered space. Also, Michael Okuda tells us that the launch date of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D — shown on the dedication plaque as 40759.5 — corresponds to October 4, 2363.

In 2002, Gene Roddenberry's birthplace, El Paso, Texas, officially declared October 4 "Gene Roddenberry Day" — in recognition of the dawn of the Space Age — when the city also rededicated the local planetarium in his name (related story).

You can learn more about Sputnik and its legacy from this NASA History Division page, where you can hear audio of the craft's famous "Beep beep." Those telemetry signals are also part of a podcast at this JPL page — and from there, click on "Related news release" for a feature about one JPL employee's perspective on the Sputnik incident. In addition, the NASA.gov home page is currently featuring a special multimedia presentation about the anniversary. Another interesting article on the scientific legacy of Sputnik can be found at this Space.com link.

So Who Wants to Be an Astronaut?

If you are super-motivated and have all the right stuff, your opportunity to boldly go into the final frontier may soon be here. Last month NASA started accepting applications for its 2009 Astronaut Candidate Class. The space agency is looking for candidates who meet certain physical standards and education requirements, including a bachelor's degree in engineering, math or science, with at least three years of experience in one of these fields. Educators are also encouraged to apply.

"The open positions require extensive travel on Earth and in space. Possible destinations may include, but are not limited to, Texas, Florida, California, Russia, Kazakhstan, the International Space Station (ISS) and the moon," states this NASA recruitment page.

According to that page, there is no set number of candidates; they are selected on an as-needed basis. Applications will be taken through July 1, 2008. There will be a six-month interview and evaluation process, and NASA plans to announce its selections early the next year. Those recruits will begin basic training in August 2009 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Members of the 2009 astronaut class could go on to fly long-duration flights to the ISS, or to the Moon aboard NASA's future Orion Crew Exploration Vehicles as part of Project Constellation.

NASA has listed its job posting at USAJobs.gov. You can also call the Astronaut Selection Office at (281) 483-5907. The salary range is about $60,000 to more than $130,000 a year.

We'd love to see some Star Trek fans in the next class of astronaut recruits. If you get selected, please write and let us know!

Asteroid Probe Using Ion Propulsion

Earlier this week it was announced that George Takei has just been honored by the International Astronomical Union with the renaming of an asteroid after him (related story). This decision occurred in the same week as the launching of a new spacecraft by NASA to explore the two largest asteroids in the solar system.

The Dawn probe blasted off last Thursday for an eight-year, three-billion-mile mission into the asteroid belt to take pictures of the rocky Vesta and the icy Ceres. It will reach its first destination, Vesta, in August 2011 and orbit that asteroid for nine months, then move on to Ceres — which is large enough to be considered a dwarf planet — by February 2015.

Dawn is the first craft to travel through space using ion propulsion — the method of propulsion that impressed Scotty so much in "Spock's Brain." In fact, the project's chief engineer Marc Rayman said in a Space.com article, "The first time I ever heard of ion propulsion was in a 'Star Trek' episode." The vehicle utilizes three basketball-sized drives where an electric charge ignites Xenon gas to generate ions that thrust out the engines at nearly 90,000 miles an hour. Learn more from NASA's Dawn mission section.

Maybe we can convince NASA to let Dawn swing by 7307 Takei while it's in the neighborhood and take a few photos, so we can gaze upon it and say "Oh my."