Launch of Sputnik

Friday, October 4, 1957Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

clear and mild62°F

Clear and cool before dawn, the air near 54°F and bone dry. Not a cloud anywhere and none coming. The sun rose into an empty sky and the day warmed hard and fast, near 79° by 4pm. The dryness was the thing you felt, more than the heat. A light breeze from the southwest picked up toward evening. The air let go of its warmth quickly after sunset and the sky filled with stars.

Humidity
31%
Wind
7 mph
Daylight
11.6 hrs
Day's character
clear sky
High / Low
85° / 56°F
Felt like
79° / 52°F
Rain
0.00"
Snowfall
0.0"
Pressure
29.94 inHg
Gusting to
12 mph
Wind from
southwest
Sunrise / Sunset
6:48 am / 6:22 pm

Pre-satellite record — solid, not exact.

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