The "Sputnik" also means the 'fellow traveler' in Russian. The Sputnik was a series of space missions that were done by Soviet Union in the late 1950's. It was during the Cold War that the Soviet's had launched the first Sputnik. There were five Sputnik's launched on different dates. The first Sputnik was launched on Oct. 4th, 1957, the second one Nov. 3rd, 1957, the third Feb. 3rd, 1958, the fourth May 15th, 1960, and the last Aug. 19th, 1960. All Sputnik's were originally designed to carry nuclear warheads. The first Sputnik was launched from a desert near Tyuratam in the Kazakh Republic. It was aluminum 22-inch sphere with four spring-loaded whip antennae, weighed 183 pounds and traveled around the Earth every 96 minutes. It flew over United States seven times a day. The first and second Sputnik had a role. The first Sputnik also broadcasted the "beep, beep, beep" that symbolically ushered in the space age. The second Sputnik, with the dog Laika aboard was not designed to return to Earth, but the mission did prove that a living creature can survive the journey into orbit and that lead to a human being making the trip. The "Chief Designer," Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov was the head Soviet rocket engineer and designer during the space race between United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950's-1960's. The United States were shocked with the launch of the Sputnik. The Sputnik led to creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in United States on Oct. 1st, 1958.