rjnoe@riccb.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) (10/04/85)
For those of you who have been too busy arguing ASATs, I thought you might like to be reminded that today (Oct. 4, 1985) is the twenty-eighth anniversary of the launching of the first orbiting artificial satellite, Sputnik I. This really helps put into perspective the rapid advance of technology in space exploration. Many (most??) of the people reading this newsgroup weren't even born then, myself included. It's funny, there are a pretty good number of relevant anniversaries in the month of October. The first of this month was the 27th anniversary of the inauguration of NASA (out of the old NACA), yesterday was the 43rd anniversary of the first (successful) A-4 launch, tomorrow will be 103 years after Robert Goddard's birth, and the 14th will mark 38 years since the first human being flew faster than the speed of sound. Somewhat more recently, the 22nd will be ten years since the first photos from the surface of Venus were received. It's really quite amazing, isn't it? -- Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe