written by Ross H St Quintin

Way back in the early 1950’s when I was a lot, lot younger, I had a fascination with the subject of Astronomy. In fact I was so keen I joined the  Astronomical Society of  Western Australia as a junior member. I used to catch the bus into Perth city to attend the monthly meeting at the Perth Observatory situated near Kings’ Park, as it was back in those far off days. It has since moved to a light pollution free area in the Darling Ranges east of perth

I was still attending High School in the late 1950’s when the news of the pending launch into space of the Russian satellite Sputnik broke into the  Astronomical world. Today, in the early 21st century, when the world’s population doesn’t even blink an eye at the numerous launches of the space shuttles, it is no doubt difficult for  younger generations to imagine my total awe at the prospect of earthlings actually launching a satellite into space!

Believe me there was great excitement at the prospect of actually maybe seeing a star like object, created by man, whizzing past high overhead in the night sky.

Imagine my excitement when I was invited to participate in an observational group which would perform a visual tracking of the satellite as it passed overhead in the southern sky. The venue was to be in the region of South perth in the backyard of one of the member’s (as I recall events?). Much preparation was required to put in place a long tracking table with visual tracking scopes aligned to the section of sky where Sputnik would cross above the skies of Western Australia.

Then on  October 4th, 1957, or maybe it was the day before or the next day here in Perth, the teams met at the appointed place & were well & truly ready to witness the great world changing event that evening. Thankfully we had quite clear skies. We took our places at the scopes. Then I saw the most amazing event of my young life….I dont recall the time…however, I clearly can still visualise seeing for the very first time a man made object  tracking across the sky like a moving star.

We were all much moved by the event & the night was the subject of long discussions for months to come. I for one felt greatly priviledged to have witnessed one of the greatest events in the history of man’s endeavours…the first successful launch of a man made object into orbit around planet Earth.

Since then I have retained my fascination with all things “scientific”, especially in the field of amateur astronomy. I urge all young kids to actively participate in all things scientific. If you are fortunate enough to pursue a career in one of the scientific disciplines, be it astronomy, chemistry, physics, geology, and so on you will enjoy a fascinating life.

For that reason it is important for parents to encourage their  kids to take part in science projects at school as a well as conducting their own experiments at home. We will never again ever see an event such as took place on the 4th october, 1957 with the launch of Sputnik….however I am positive the world has many marvels for us to witness in the centuries ahead.

Copyright C 2009Ross St Quintin. This article may not be reproduced in any form by by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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