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Great Moments in Science: Manhole Cover First in Space

Year of completion: 1999
Content type: Narrative Content
Format: Short
Genre: Comedy, Science
Duration: 5 minutes
Production Status: Completed

The history books say the first artificial object launched into space by the human race was the Sputnik satellite. Sputnik was launched by the Soviets on 4 October 1957, but the history books are wrong. The first object put into space by the human race was an American manhole cover - and it was all part of a nuclear experiment. Karl Kruszelnicki travels back to an atom crazy world of the 1950s to find out how a manhole cover became our first ambassador to space.

Completion Year: 1999
Genres: Comedy, Science
Format: Short
Production Status: Completed