Life size model of the first artificial satellite launched into space on 4 October 1957.
It is made of stainless steel, the original weighed 174 lbs or 79 kg and existed for 92 days, completing 1,400 revolutions around the Earth. With the observations it made, scientists collected information on the upper layers of the atmosphere and the laws governing the movements of the satellite.
The Sputnik was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on October 4, 1957. The USSR stated is was a symbol of the scientific and technical achievemnts of mankind in the exploration of outer space. It was visible all around the Earth and its radio pulses were detectable. This surprise success precipitated the American Sputnik crisis and triggered the Space Race, a part of the larger Cold War. The launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments.
On receiving it, Dag Hammarskjöld said: "It has been placed here in the entrance hall, where it hangs as a counterpart to the Foucault Pendulum, reminding us of the enormous evolution in science which has taken place over a little more than 100 years, and which has formed our world today – on the one side, the physical demonstration of the daily rotation of the Earth, and on the other side, the first man-made object cicling the globe in outer space."