Picture |
Object
name
#NORAD |
Remarks |
Launch
Date |
Weight |
|
Sputnik
1
Sputnik I
1957-001B
#00002 |
 This
first man made satellite in space was launched by USSR
into an elliptical orbit with a perigee of 240 km and
an apogee of 965 km.  The
spherical satellite had a diameter of 58cm and carried
2 radio beacons transmitting on 20.005 MHz and 40.010
MHz. The batteries powering the transmitters had a lifetime
of 3 weeks. Recording kindly provided by Alois DL3PD.
|
Oct
4th 1957 |
84
kg |
This
audio file was recorded by Roy  W0SL
in Dallas, Texas on October 7th,
1957 at 0457Z using a military surplus AN/FRR3A HF RTTY
receiver tuned to 20.007 MHz. Thanks Roy for providing
this recording. |
This
recording is from an unknown German ham-radio amateur.
It was filtered and provided by Don P. Mitchell. |
An unknown
British SWL is commenting the reception of Sputnik 1
on October 11th 1957 at 10:58pm.
The original source of this recording is unknown. The
recording was kindly provided by Bill KA8VIT. (Please
note that this recording is 5MB large). |
|
Sputnik
2
Sputnik II
Physical lab
PS 2
1957-002A
#00003 |
Sputnik
2 was the first spaceship which brought an animal in
space. The elliptical orbit had an apogee of 1770 km
and an apogee of 320 km. The dog named Laika lived for
one week and part of the downlink telemetry was her
heartbeat. Like Sputnik 1 this satellite transmitted
on 20.005 MHz and on 40.010 MHz. This recording was
provided by Alois DL3PD. |
Nov
3rd 1957 |
508
kg |
 In June
2010 I received from Dick W4PUJ
(ex WA4DGU) together
with a number of other unique audio recordings enclosed
recording of Sputnik II. Thanks Dick for providing this
recording.
|
|
Explorer
1
Explorer I
1958-001A
#00004 |
Explorer
1 was America's first orbiting satellite launched from
Cape Canaveral, Florida by an Army Jupiter C four stage
rocket into an elliptical orbit with an perigee of 320
km and an apogee of 2735 km. The cylindrical satellite
was 1.5m long and had a diameter of 15cm. The transmissions
of Explorer 1 on 108 MHz included information about
the satellites temperature, cosmic rays and meteorites.
The batteries lasted about 3 months. This recording
was made by Roy W0SL in Dallas, Texas on February 11th,
1958 at 0100Z using a home-made VHF converter in front
of a National NC-300 receiver. Thanks Roy ! |
Jan
31st
1958 |
14
kg |
Another
recording of Explorer I was kindly provided by Dick
W4PUJ. |
|
Vanguard
1
Beta 2
1958-002B
#00005 |
This
is the oldest man-made satellite which is still in orbit.
It is expected to last about another 190 years before
it finally decays. This spherical Navy test satellite
has a diameter of 15cm and was launched by a Vanguard
3 stage rocket into an elliptical orbit with a perigee
of 640 km and an apogee of 4020 km. The satellite had
2 power sources: the first transmitter operated from
a mercury cell supply and had a life time of 3 weeks.
Thanks to solar cells used to power the second transmitter
it operated 6 years and 3 months. The output power of
the transmitters was 100mW (on 108.0 MHz) and 50mW (on
108.3 MHz). The telemetry transmitted was the package
temperature indicated by the difference between the
two transmitter frequencies. Therefore, the recordings
were made with the receiver Beat Frequency Oscillator
(BFO) turned on in order to produce an audible tone
heard in the recordings. Thanks for the audio-file to
Roy W0SL. |
Mar
17th
1958 |
1.5
kg |
This recording
of Vanguard I was done while it was battery powered
and kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ. |
This recording
of Vanguard I was done while it was solar powered and
kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ. |
This recording
of Vanguard I was done after it was already 3 months
in operation and kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ. |
This recording
of Vanguard I was done after it was already 1 year in
operation and kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ. |
|
Lunik
I
Luna 1
Mechta
1959-012A
#00112 |
Luna 1 was the first
of a series of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations
successfully launched in the direction of the Moon.
It actually landed on the Moon.
|
Jan
2nd 1959 |
361
kg |
This recording
of a Lunik probe was kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ.
It is possibly from Lunik I but we are not sure. It
could be also based on transmissions of Lunik II or
Lunik III. |
|
Space Ship Vostok with
Sputnik 9
1961-008A
#00091 |
The Space
Ship Vostok carried a dog named Chernuska in space.
Recording provided by Alois DL3PD. |
Mar 9th
1961 |
4700 kg |
|
Russian
Spaceship
Vostok 1
with
Jurij Gagarin
1961- 012A
#00103 |
The first
man in space: Jurij Gagarin. Recording provided by Alois
DL3PD. |
Apr
12th
1961 |
4725
kg |
Vinyl
single made in USSR
"12-IV 1961 CCCP Gagarin"
side 1 with Russian comments. Recording provided by
Maik Hermenau. |
Vinyl
single made in USSR
"12-IV 1961 CCCP Gagarin"
side 2 with German comments. Recording provided by Maik
Hermenau. |
Colorvox
"Schallbildkarte"
"Reportage über
den Weltraumflug Juri Gagarins". Recording provided
by Maik Hermenau. |
Report
in German language about the phase between the first
artificial satellite Sputnik 1 and the first man in
space Juri Gagarin. From a Schallfolie "Der Weg
in den Kosmos" which was provided in the 60s by
a Eastern German magazine called "Frösi".
Recording provided by Maik Hermenau. |
|
US Spaceship
Friendship
7
Mercury Atlas 6
with John Glenn
1962-003A
#00240 |
Report
in German language about the first US astronaut John
Glenn circulating in MA 6 (Mercury Atlas 6) the Earth
3 times. Heftbeilage der Hauszeitschrift "Die Brücke"
Nr.2 vom Oktober 1962 der Pharmazeutischen Medizinischen
Abteilung der Farbwerke Hoechst AG. Recording provided
by Maik Hermenau. |
Feb 20th
1962 |
1900 kg |
|
Gemini-9
(crew: Tom
Stafford and Eugene Cernan)
1966-047A
#02191 |
This
US mission faced some problems but nevertheless with
a duration of more than 2 hours a new record for an
EVA was established. Gemini-9 also tried to dock with
ATDA, a test satellite. It returned to Earth on June
6th. Audio received on June
3rd 1966 by Dick Flagg (currently
AH6NM) on 296.8 MHz at the University of Florida Student
Satellite Tracking Station. Recording provided by Sven
Grahn. |
June 3rd
1966 |
3750 kg |
|
Apollo 8
first
manned mission to fly and orbit the Moon
(crew:
William Anders, James Lovell, Frank Borman)
CSM-103
1968-118A
#03626 |
Originally Apollo
8 wasn't going to the Moon but was supposed to have
a low-earth orbit to test the Lunar Module and Command
Module. However, since the Lunar Module wasn't ready,
NASA decided to change the mission objectives and send
Apollo 8 to orbit the Moon 10 times. The crew William
Anders, James Lovell and Frank Borman was retrained
in record time for a completely new mission. They were
the first three humans to see the dark side of the Moon
and their voyage was the first ever to escape Earth's
gravitational force and visit another celestial body.
On Christmas Eve 1968, when approaching lunar
sunrise, the 3 crew members sent a famous broadcast
message back to Earth when taking turns reading the
first 10 verses from the book of Genesis. Audio courtesy
of NASA (3MB). |
Dec 21st
1968 |
28817 kg |
|
Apollo
11
irst manned mission to land on the moon
(crew: Neil. A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Michael
Collins)
Command & Service Module
CSM-107
1969-059A
#04039
Lunar Module
LM/EASEP
1969-059C
#04041 |
Apollo 11 was the first
manned mission to land on the moon. The LM (landing
module) spacecraft transmitted at S-band with a carrier
frequency of 2282.5 MHz both live television (FM modulated)
as well as telemetry (on PM modulated sub-carriers).
This communication system was collectively referred
to as the Unified S-Band Communication System. |
Jul
16th
1969 |
40894
kg |
The audio
file enclosed documents the successful launch sequence.
Recorded on July 16th 1969. |
The famous
words of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon,
when he stepped on the moon. Recorded on July 20th 1969. |
The second
man to step on the moon was Edwin E. Aldrin.  This
video shows him climbing down the ladder. This video
was received by Parkes Observatory in Australia. Video
courtesy of NASA. |
President
Nixon  talks
with the Astronauts and wished for ".. peace and
tranquility on the Earth." This video was received
by Parkes Observatory in Australia. Video courtesy of
NASA. |
Vinyl
single "First man on the moon" side 1 includes
the speech of J.F.Kennedy announcing the plan to go
to the moon. Record provided by Maik Hermenau. |
Vinyl
single "First man on the moon" side 2 includes
the launch of Apollo 11 and landing of Eagle. Record
provided by Maik Hermenau. |
Part
1 of a report in German language about the first manned
mission to the moon, Vinyl LP "Original Dokumente
vom Weg zum Mond" war 1970 eine Beilageder Zeitschrift
"Bunte Illustrierte". Record provided by Maik
Hermenau (11 minutes). |
Part
2 of a report in German language about the first manned
mission to the moon, Vinyl LP "Original Dokumente
vom Weg zum Mond" war 1970 eine Beilageder Zeitschrift
"Bunte Illustrierte". Record provided by Maik
Hermenau (15 minutes). |
|
Apollo 13
aborted
third manned mission to the moon (crew: James A. Lovell,
Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr., Fred W. Haise, Jr. )
CSM-109
1970-029A
#04371 |
This mission to moon
ended almost fatal. Due to an explosion of the oxygen
tank in the service module the mission had to be aborted
and luckily the crew returned safely on April 17th 1970.  See
here a short movie of the damaged service module when
clicking on the picture to the right.
Famous
words of Jack Swigert after the explosion of the tank:
"Houston, we've had a problem here." |
Apr 11th
1970 |
136077 kg |
|
Soyuz-33
1979-029A
#11324 |
Launched to bring the
"Saturn" crew N. N. Rukavishnikov (USSR) and
G. I. Ivanov (Bulgaria) to the Space Station Salyut
6, Soyuz-33 failed to dock with Salyut 6 as there was
a malfunction of the main engine during its final approach.
The "Proton"
crew aboard Salyut 6 reported flames shooting sideways
from the main engine, toward the backup engine, at the
time of the shutdown. The docking was called off and
the "Saturn" crew made ready to return to
Earth.
Unfortunately
also the backup engine had difficulties and as a result,
Soyuz 33 made a steep ballistic reentry with acceleration
up to 10G (98 m/s²). Listen to the crew reading
the landing angles.
After the short mission of
2 days finally the "Saturn" crew arrived safely
on earth.
Both audio files were recorded on April
11th
1979 on 121.75 MHz by Sven Grahn. |
Apr 10th
1979 |
6860 kg |
|
STS-1
Columbia
1981-034A
#12399 |
German
report about the first launch of a space shuttle: STS-1
Columbia which was broadcasted by Bayrischer Rundfunk.
Record provided by Maik Hermenau.
You can find many
more recordings from Spaceships like he Space Shuttle
in the respective section of this website. |
Apr 12th 1981 |
81836 kg |
|
MIR
Space Station
1986-017A
#16609 |
The first
crew to visit MIR were Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Soloviev.
Their Soyuz T-15 spacecraft was launched on March 13th 1986 and they
docked to MIR on March 14th. They stayed in space for
125 days and during that time even travelled from MIR
to Salyut 6 and back before finally returning back to
earth.
The first
audio file was recorded by Sven Grahn on March 15th 1986 15:27
UTC on 121.75 MHz, apparently shortly after they entered
MIR. Many thanks to Sven Grahn.
The second
audio file was recorded the day after on March 16th 1986 14:14
UTC on 143.625 MHz also by Sven Grahn. |
Feb
20th
1986 (core module) |
140000
kg |
Another
way to use large space objects is to use them as passive
reflectors. MIR indeed was large enough to scatter enough
signal back to Earth. The audio file enclosed was recorded
by Jean-Louis F6AGR on Feb. 21st
2001. He received CW (morse code) signals, which were
transmitted on 144 MHz by F6ETI.
You can find many
more recordings from Spaceships like MIR in the respective
section of this website. |
|
International Space Station
ISS
1998-067A
#25544 |
The first crew of the
ISS was the team of Commander William M. Shepherd, Soyuz
Pilot Yuri P. Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev.
They arrived with a Soyuz spacecraft on Nov. 2nd 2000 and stayed
136 days.
In the
sound file enclosed Bill Shepherd is thanking the ground
crews. Recorded shortly after arrival of the 1st crew
on Nov. 2nd
2000 at 12:27 UTC on 143.625 MHz by Sven Grahn.
You can find many more recordings from Spaceships like
ISS in the respective section of this website. |
Nov 20th
1998
(Zarja module) |
183283 kg |
