<P> In Australia, Professor Harry Messel intercepted the signals . Other stations in Australia and South America had also been in range and intercepted the signals . However, the Soviets would not release the code that would allow the stations in Australia and South America to read the signals, and without the code, the stations would not cooperate and send the data to the Soviets . </P> <P> The disagreement cost the Soviets the opportunity to claim one of the most significant findings of the space race at that time, and only after the launch (31 January 1958) of the U.S. satellite Explorer 1 did James Van Allen demonstrate the existence of the radiation belts . In 1958, with Sputnik 3, they began to cooperate, and they confirmed the findings of the U.S. satellites Explorer 1, 3, and 4 . </P> <P> Sputnik 2 reentered the Earth's atmosphere 14 April 1958, at approximately 0200 hrs, on a line that stretched from New York to the Amazon . Its track was plotted by British ships and 3 "Moon Watch Observations", from New York . It was said to be glowing and did not develop a tail until it was at latitudes south of 20 degrees North . Estimates put the average length of the tail at about 50 nautical miles . The satellite burned up in the atmosphere . </P> <P> A copy of Sputnik 2 that was used in testing before the launch is located at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas, USA . </P>

When did sputnik 2 come back to earth