(meteorobs) Off Topic Maybe Sometime in December 1957

drobnock drobnock at penn.com
Mon Feb 19 09:30:14 EST 2007


 (1) New York Times for Sunday 18 February 2007 carried an article about
an up coming exhibit of Sputnik I artefacts that fell in 8  December
1957.

Those not familiar with the Sputnik saga, it was launched in 4 October
1957 and  by official accounts reentered the earths atmosphere 4 January
1958. The original satellite was described to be the size of a beach
ball (?)

According to the NYT newspaper, this past Sunday,  the 13 pieces  of the
satellite fell to earth at Encino, Calif. in the early morning were
plastic parts

What is interesting about the pictures presented of the pieces   found
December 1957, they appear to be clear plastic rods that are either semi
circular or bent. They are not melted into a molten glob.

The interesting part of seeing the reentry witnessed and finding the
parts is the description in summary: The satellite  as it rested on the
ground was described as being so bright that the witnesses had to view
it (on the ground) with sunglasses, and waited until it cooled down
before the pieces could be picked up.

Apparently the backyard where it fell, was not on fire.

The explanation for the plastic material, based on photographs and
available information,  is the pieces found were from the 90 foot
aluminum final stage of the launch vehicle.

Could an object be so bright that it needed to be viewed with
sunglasses?

2. As this is off topic,  but of interest for those  who for  past years
have been viewing various space junk now entering the atmosphere as
"meteors."

as a side note: names for things that fall from the sky - using the date
1803 as a starting  reference - we have meteor, shooting star,
fire-ball,  bolide ( in the sky) or  aeolite, aerolite, meteorite,
siderite (on the ground). And up until about 1860, it was accepted that
the stuff - rocks - that fall from the sky were from the moon, the
clouds, or blown into the sky by volcanos.

But if we use 1957 as a starting date,  what is the name for  man-made
stuff that shoots across the sky at night (?) and  falls to earth in
with a blazing  tail?

George John Drobnock







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