Beep, Beep, Beep...

Today marks fifty years since the quest for cold war superiority kick started the space race, and we all began to realise our place in the universe. A feint beeping noise from space was indication that the Soviets had successfully placed a man-made object into space. As the Soviets celebrated their beach ball size probe happily bleeping it’s orbital path, the west began to panic as to what else may soon be flying over their heads.

The answer of course was a hell of lot more. Sputnik did for space what we British did to Benidorm, and today the planet is entirely surrounded by a vast array of humming technology powering our modern world. None of them however seems to currently be in range of my mobile as I have now been attempting to send a text message for 45 minutes.

But thanks to those satellites I can (theoretically) talk to anybody anywhere at the press of a button, and then look on Google Earth to check out the size of their back garden!

Sputnik came out of nowhere from a regime of secrecy. It’s designer Sergei Korolev was considered to be a State Secret, and never officially named. Ironic then that it’s descendants have become a platform for free speech and open communication all over the world. A weapon built as part of a military race for space, also let John Lennon tell the world that all you need is love!

Thanks to Sputnik we can all know our place in the universe - because our Tom-Tom's can tell us!