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Sputnik 1 was the object that began the era of space exploration when it was launched from the USSR in 1957. Many people will remember the wonder of hearing the regular 'beeps' of the radio signal transmitted from Sputnik as it orbited Earth, sounding rather plaintive and lonely.

This little momento of that marker in history, when human beings realized the ability to explore beyond our planet into space, was most probably given to my parents by students from the USSR, a group of whom came to Cambridge each year, in that uneasy period, to learn English, and who were provided with lodgings in local homes. It therefore speaks of the great shifts of perspective that come to human society at times, but also of the ever present possibility communication and relationships between people.