Would you believe that I was thinking of magnesium but I got sidetracked before I could research the matter, rather than just making a guess.

Dave Mitsky

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Allow me to take the next step, kinda, from Eroica's question and ask....

How much longer did it take mankind to launch into the realm beyond Earth's gravitational grip since the launch of the first orbital object (ie Sputnik)? Who was the pioneer behind this project?

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Yes. Does it look like I guessed? [Notice it is the only metal of correct US spelling in my limited bludgeoning.]

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3 and a half years by my reckoning.

The Russians sent up sputnik on October 4 1957 and on Feb 12th 1961 they launched a rocket to Venus.

I'm going to go with Sergei Aleksandrovich Afanas'ev because he's the first onthis page

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That's certainly a good try, but it is not the correct answer. It was prior to 1961.

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ok then. I'm assuming you take lunar gravity to be different than earth gravity


January 2, 1959 was Luna 1

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Nope, it traveled beyond the Earth-Moon system.

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Pioneer 4, which flew by the moon and achieved escape velocity on March 4th, 1959. I don't know who was responsible for any of the pioneer probes, but I appreciate the pun!

Nice but nope.

Ug, now I know how Arneb feels. It's funny how they just leap out at you even when no one is trying.

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I'm reading the NASA article on Luna 1 and it seems like it should be the right answer; it is currently in a solar orbit.

Agreed, but though it is accurate, it is limited. There was yet another, more colorful event.

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it was launched two months after Luna 1.

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this is crazy.

January 31 1958 Explorer 1 was launched, but it never left Earth orbit.


http://www.intute.ac.uk/timeline_Spa...atellites.html


according to this article only Sputnik I and II were before it. Luna 1 was the next mission.


that means you're looking for something after the correct answer. I'm going to go back and read your question.

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wording is kinda funny, but I take it to mean when did Humans leave Earth orbit (reach escape velocity)

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Yes, my wording is a bit poor there, sorry. It is meant to suggest the launch of anything beyond the Earth - Moon system.

This is not an easy one to find for those who are unaware of this event. [I feel anything I say could easily give it a way, however, so I will wait till later today for a hint.]

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done by humans? the earth has ejected thins over time during impacts. of course that was before humans sent anything into space.

here is a list of things put into space during the early years.

http://my.execpc.com/~culp/space/timeline.html

I'm awaiting your hint.

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Maybe you refer to the fact that Luna 1, after reaching escape velocity but before flying by the Moon released a stream of sodium, whose colorful (sic!) orange trail allowed tracking of the spacecraft from the ground. But I admit I can't find anything in your question pointing me to this answer (except for the colourful in the hint)-

However, that doesn't change the date: The launch was Jan 2, 1959, and escape velocity was achieved on that day; both the third stage and the probe entered a solar orbit when they missed the Moon.

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Yes, it was with a rocket for the purpose stated. It carried instrumentation for other projects, too.

Ok, and I have given Eroica time to jump in. [Through searching, I learned that he knows the answer, if he can go back several years to our posts.] Also, I don't want to drag it out as the answer may make this bludgeoner a bludgeonee (for reasons that may be all too apparent).

The first attempt at this was years before Sputnik, in the mid 1940s.

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Well, you know how I look colorful things.... I also like colorful people. Also, the pioneer was not German, but.....

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does this have to due with nuclear weapons?

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I also found something more colorful.


http://www.x-entertainment.com/archi...03/index.shtml
careful language warning.

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Not really.

I recall playing with many spring loaded gizmos back then. I don't recall, however, ever being served the combo breafast shown (Cheerios and a V-8 ). The V-8 is getting you slightly closer, fwiw. [Added: Oops, I did a pun. Must be endemic .]

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Does it involve Fritz Zwicky?

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we're sending fruit into space? how odd.


we're still talking about launching something into space right? not EM waves being sent out by us. I'm sure there were some pretty big fires that put out enough light to reach past the atmosphere and thus past the earth's gravity.

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Would V-3 be even closer?

Yep. It involved a normal rocket launch into the upper atmosphere, but what came next I am not saying (yet).


Yes, but still only close because it was not a V-series rocket, it was an American rocket that did the job.

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I have a feeling the answer is some fragment of a spacecraft that exploded late in the launch, thus propelling some of itself beyond the Earth's gravity. Officially, the first undestroyed spacecraft to reach escape velocity is Luna 1.

Now you're cookn'. But, it was not accidental (in case you're wondering). In fact, the first attempt (mid 40s) to explode it failed.

Yes, but it is now a hunk of metal, too: magnesium, perhaps.

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Eroica has landed the best clue.

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