Beam me up Wally

[mandolindave]

Sputnik, the first orbital satelite, was made out of polished aluminum. The Russian scientist who spear headed the project said that the vessel was polished to perfection to limit heat build up. His identity was kept a secret until recently. He also said that the blinking light that some of us oldtimers
watched with the naked eye was actually a booster rocket, not the history making Sputnik. The russians second satelite contained a dog, who died after a week from the heat.