The Rahr-West Art Museum stands in the eastern Wisconsin town of Manitowoc. It is in a historic house that was constructed in 1891, by businessman Joseph Vilas who was the town’s tenth mayor. After Vilas’ death, Rahr Malting purchased the house in 1910. After his death his wife inherited the home and when she passed in 1941 she donated the home to the city of Manitowoc. In 1975, with donations from John and Ruth West an exhibition space was added to the home and displays art from renowned artist such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, and Picasso.
On the sidewalk in front of the home is a marker from one of the towns strangest events. On the morning of September 5, 1962, two patrolmen found a fragment of metal embedded three inches deep in the road in front of the Rahr-West Museum. The mysterious piece was sent to NASA and the Smithsonian Institute and they determined it was part of a Russian spacecraft.
Sputnik IV was launched into space by the Soviet Union On May 15, 1960. It contained a manikin in a spacesuit and the main goal of the mission was to test the ability for radio transmissions and communication from earth to a spacecraft in orbit. After four days of orbiting the retrorockets were fired to bring the spacecraft back to earth. Instead. the rockets malfunctioned and it was sent further into orbit. Eventually Sputnik IV entered earth atmosphere and broke apart and a chunk of it landed in Manitowoc and found by the patrolmen. The piece was eventually returned to the Soviet Union but a replica casting made by NASA is on display in the Rahr-West Musuem.
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