Fifty years ago Thursday, a 30-pound satellite called Explorer 1 joined Sputnik in orbit around the Earth, sending the United States into the space race. Replicas of the historic spacecraft are on ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. On Jan. 31, 1958, the United States launched its first successful satellite: Explorer 1. It was ...

Sixty years ago next week, the hopes of Cold War America soared into the night sky as a rocket lofted skyward above Cape Canaveral, a soon-to-be-famous barrier island off the Florida coast. The date ...

George Ludwig, a graduate student who worked with physicist James Van Allen at the University of Iowa, is seen here testing the Explorer 1 instruments as the satellite was prepared for launch. When ...

Click to open image viewer. This is one of several full-scale replicas of Explorer 1 in the NASM collection. It consists of the payload section attached to an empty Sergeant fourth-stage, solid-fuel ...

Creation of the satellite Explorer 1 was the first successful satellite launched by the United States. It was designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) under the direction of Dr.

IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. One of several replicas and backup ...