504
First Satellites (mander.xyz)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] 105 points 7 months ago (8 children)

“Asterix” being some spin on the latin word for “star”, aster.

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  • [–] 32 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Well, there's certainly a double entendre in chosing it as the name of a satellite, but it definitely comes from the name of tgat comic book character. Which itself is a play on asterisque (this symbol: *), which, of course, comes in turn from aster as you said.

    His compagnon Obélix has a name which works on two levels: It can be seen as a play on obelisk (he is himself a sculptor of menhirs, which are vaguely similar to obelisks), but "obèle" is also the French word for the dagger symbol (†), which is an alternative to the asterisk.

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  • [–] 12 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Oh, I never knew about that second reference for Obélix!

    I should really read them again, I probably missed 80% of the jokes as a kid.

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago

    Netflix has a new animated Asterix series which is really good, modernized (as far as the puns are concerned -- e.g. one of the Romans is named "Fastandfurius") but still very much in the spirit of the original. The live-action series is nowhere near as good.

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    • [–] 61 points 7 months ago (14 children)

    Sputnik is a fun word in Russian. It comes from the prefix s- (with), the suffix -nik (one who), and the root -put- (path). A sputnik, then, is someone or something who travels a path with you, and it is also a model of train (because it travels with the tracks) and a word for spouse (because they travel your life's path with you).

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  • [–] 16 points 7 months ago (10 children)

    so, "pathfinder"?

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  • [–] 29 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    More like companion.

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  • [–] 10 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    If the "pa" part of "companion" comes from path it's basically exactly the same: "s" and "co" are both "with" and "nik" and "ion" are similar noun endings.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    If the “pa” part of “companion” comes from path

    It doesn't though, it comes from French compagnon/compaignon and then Latin com (with) + panis (bread). It probably originally meant "someone with whom you share bread (eat together)".

    And actually, looking at wiktionary, Old English had a word "ġefēra" (with the same meaning) which is constructed very similarly to "спутник": ge ('with', still the same prefix in german e.g. ‎Gebrüder) + fera ('to go'/'to fare', e.g. in seafaring)

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  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    I might translate it that way in some contexts, but if you told me Lewis and Clark were "sputniks" I'd assume you meant they got married in secret, rather than that they were explorers.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    It's strange they called it a 'companion' of any sort since it was the sole first satellite in space

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    I'm pretty sure the model of train is a proper name and it's named after the satellite. I don't think I would describe any train as a literal "sputnik" of the rails.

    Also Russian is full of composite words like that. "Explorer" in russian would be "исследователь" (issledovatel') - ис (completely) + след (trace/footstep) + оват (make, imbue) + ель (he who). Literally it would be "he who makes (places) completely (covered in) footsteps"

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    • [–] 28 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (5 children)

    Canada was the 4th country with a satellite, and the 3rd country to fully construct its own satellite. It called that satellite Alouette 1, followed by Alouette 2, then ISIS 1 and 2 (International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies, not the other one).

    The list of launches is pretty funny.

    • Sputnik 1 (success); USSR
    • Sputnik 2 (success); USSR

    Then an absolutely frantic series of US attempts

    • Vanguard 1A (failure); USA
    • Explorer 1 (success); USA
    • Vanguard 1B (failure); USA
    • Explorer 2 (failure); USA
    • Vanguard 1C (success); USA
    • Explorer 3 (success); USA
    • Vanguard 2A (failure); USA

    Then another Sputnik

    • Sputnik 3 (success); USSR

    Then more frantic attempts by the USA

    • Vanguard 2B (failure); USA
    • Vanguard 2C (failure); USA
    • Explorer 4 (success); USA
    • Pioneer 0 (failure); USA
    • Pioneer Explorer 5 (failure); USA
    • Vanguard 2D (failure); USA
    • Pioneer 1 (partial success); USA
    • Beacon 1 (failure); USA
    • Pioneer 2 (failure); USA

    Then 1959 started with Luna 1, a partially successful launch from the USSR.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Mild confusing, Pioneer 5 launched before Pioneer 1? Whose bright idea was that?

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    I read in another place that Japan was the fourth to launch a satellite in February of 1970, it looks like that other article means ‘launched using their own rocktet’, and Canada launched 8 years earlier than Japan using NASA rocket

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    Everybody wants to make their own achievement sound better.

    • The UK was the third country with a satellite, but didn't fully build their own satellite.
    • Canada was the fourth, but third to fully build their own satellite, but they didn't use their own rocket.
    • Italy was the fifth and also launched a satellite they built, but used an American rocket.
    • France was the sixth country with a satellite, but the first to launch outside the US or USSR using their own rocket.
    • Australia was the seventh country with a satellite, but the third to launch a satellite in its own territory; France launched from Algeria in 1965 which had been independent since 1962. But, Australia used an American rocket, not its own design.
    • West Germany was the eighth country with a satellite, but it was launched from a US rocket on a US base.
    • Japan was the ninth country with a satellite, but it used its own rocket from its own territory. So, 9th with a satellite, 5th to launch outside the US and USSR, 4th to launch from its own territory, and 4th to launch with its own rocket.
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    • [–] 17 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    china really went 60% of the way to naming their satellite Touhou Koumakyou

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    • [–] 16 points 7 months ago

    AN INDOMITABLE GAULISH NAME FOR AN INDOMITABLE GAULISH SATELLITE!

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    [–] 8 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Ils sont fous, ces Française.

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    • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Was that live action movie any good or just an acid trip?

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    • [–] 16 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Not to get too "um actually" on this but Sputnik 1 predates Explorer 1

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    • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    Named ours after a bird and funny kid's song.

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    [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    "The East is Red" is a pretty fire name ngl

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