New York is an endless playground for a curious mind. Where else can you take a tour of the United Nations and see Sputnik hanging in the lobby? Yes, a full-scale model of the world’s first artificial satellite is suspended from the ceiling in the public entrance hall of the UN headquarters.
History
Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. It spent about three weeks transmitting radio signals before its batteries died and completed 1,400 orbits around Earth before burning up in the atmosphere on January 4, 1958. The satellite was a polished metal sphere, 58 cm in diameter, with four external antennas that broadcast radio pulses.
The particular model displayed at the UN was presented as a gift by the First Deputy Foreign Minister of the USSR, Kuznetsov, on December 4, 1959.
Significance
What’s interesting is that authentic Sputnik models are quite rare, and for experts or hardcore space enthusiasts it matters whether the satellite is an actual original model—manufactured in the USSR and provided by the Soviet Academy of Sciences—or a local replica.
There are only two “technological duplicates made by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR” in the United States. The first is the one featured in this article, at the UN, and the second is in Washington, D.C., at the National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian).
Local replicas, however, can be found in many other places, including:
- Seattle: Museum of Flight and Pacific Science Center,
- Hutchinson, Kansas: Cosmosphere/Hall of Space,
- Oklahoma: Stafford Air & Space Museum,
- Florida: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum, Orlando Science Center,
- Texas: Space Center Houston,
- California: Chabot Space & Science Center (Oakland), Aerospace Museum of California (Sacramento).
One fun example of how highly valued original models are: on September 27, 2017, the auction house Bonhams sold a functional “beeping” Sputnik replica for $847,500 (including buyer’s premium) at its New York sale. The buyer chose to remain anonymous.
Practical Info
📍 UN Headquarters / 405 E 45th St, New York, NY 10017 (more about tours)
Every day from 9:00 to 16:30 (better to check before visiting)
