The Sky Project Space Race

By: Devon Elliott, Nana Robinette, Patrick Stewart, Sarah Waugh

Between 1945 and 1989, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America, along with their allies, were involved in a bitter conflict known as the Cold War. The Cold War boiled down to a clash over different types of government. The USSR had a communist government, while the USA had a democratic, capitalist government.

During the Cold War, the USSR and the USA competed in a race for control of the sky. The space race became an important part of the cultural, technological, and ideological conflict between the two powers. In 1957 the Soviets launched Sputnik, the world’s first satellite. Sputnik frightened the USA and furthered competition between the two superpowers. In April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. While the USSR initially led the space race, the USA is often seen as the victor, with Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin landing on the moon in July 1969.

The group created a model of Sputnik that produced the same outputs as the original Sputnik. The viewer's hands would increase the temperature of the model, which changed the pitch of a tone emitted from within. Likewise, by moving the model around, the speed of the tone changed to match the changing speed of the model.

The group also created an interactive timeline that viewers could reference. This timeline contained many of the traditional historical events associated with the Cold War and the Space Race. Between the two components, viewers could experience and learn about Sputnik.

Interactive Timeline

The interactive timeline was built using MIT's Simile Timeline application programming interface. This application allows temporal events to be mapped in a way that is similar to how Google Maps handles geographic data. Events are programmed into the application using XML source code and are then displayed on an easily-manipulated timeline.

Sputnik Model

Sputnik sent information about temperature to Earth. This model was built using a BASIC Stamp 2 microcontroller that runs a piezo speaker, and receives inputs from a thermistor and 2-axis accelerometer. The thermistor measures temperature and the microcontroller changes the tone accordingly, rising as the model warms and lowering as it cools. The accelerometer measures movement. The speed of the signal is changed according to the information received from the accelerometer, representing the effects Sputnik's movement had on the reception of its signal.

Components used:

• Sputnik BASIC Stamp 2 Microcontroller
  

• Piezo Speaker
  

• Thermister
  

• 2-Axis Accelerometer

Timeline

• Computer

Computer Programs used:

• BASIC custom code
  

• MIT Simile Project