The second act is always the best!
Sputnik 2 was launched on November 3, 1957, and was the second artificial craft to reach Earth orbit. Along with various instruments for measuring conditions in Earth’s upper atmosphere, the craft carried a passenger — a little dog named Laika.
No provision was made to return Laika back to Earth. She died before her fourth orbit when the temperature in the cabin rose too high.
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By the time astronaut James McDivitt stepped into the Apollo 9 spacecraft on March 3, 1969, he had already built a reputation as a solid and trusted American pilot and astronaut. A member of NASA’s “Second Group” of astronauts, his first trip into space came as mission commander of the Gemini IV mission in June 1965. That particular mission was…read more
Venus is the planet second-closest to the the sun in our solar system and Earth’s nearest neighbor. The cloudy rocky planet orbits the sun at an average distance of 67,238,251 mi (108,209,475 km) at a mean orbital velocity of 78,339 mph (126,074 km/h). For us Earthlings, Venus also the second-brightest object in the night sky, with the first being the…read more
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk-show that has been airing on NBC since 1954. The first person to regularly play host on the show was comedian Steve Allen who was on the show from 1954 to 1957. As for who technically was the second host depends on, like so many other “seconds” on SilverMedals.net, how you define the…read more
When Alan Bean retired from NASA and decided to become a full-time professional fine-art artist, he had to shed his aeronautical engineering and astronaut self to allow his inner artistic vision come through to the canvas. Not an easy task for the former Apollo 12 astronaut, one of only 12 men to have walked on the surface of the moon,…read more
Sputnik 1 was successfully launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, becoming the first artificial object to reach Earth orbit. Having been launched during the Cold War era, this tiny, beeping, ball-shaped satellite caused great concern among many paranoid red-scared Americans for whom the event was not so much a great moment of scientific achievement, but rather a disconcerting development…read more
In honor of the excellent Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary The Vietnam War, which is currently showing on PBS, I thought it was a fitting time to highlight Harry Griffith Cramer, Jr., the person considered to be the second U.S. soldier killed during that conflict. Before we go on, it’s worth mentioning that this is a case where it is difficult…read more
