Fifty years ago today, on October 4 1957, the earth entered a new era with the launch of Sputnik 1. It was just a simple metal ball, polished and pressurised, and all it really did was beep, but it changed everything. Sputnik paved the way for the space race, for Laika and Gargarin and the moon landings, for the exploration of the solar system, and for the modern age of communications, weather, imaging and GPS satellites.
Nowdays, satellites are commonplace - so common that if you spend a little time watching on a clear night, you're almost bound to see a couple (and if you're not sure where or when to look, there's always Heavens Above). But it's woth remembering how it all began, with a new star moving gracefully through the heavens, beeping.
