Explorer 1 was less than 2 meters long and weighed about 13.4 kg. The model William Hayward Pickering, James Van Allen, and Wernher von Braun are brandishing triumphantly in this photo is the ...

The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, was launched on January 31, 1958, marking a pivotal moment in American space history. Coming just months after the Soviet Union’s Sputnik satellites, NASA’s ...

Sixty years ago today, the United States used a modified German V-2 rocket to send the country’s first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit around the Earth. This momentous achievement was just the first ...

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 ...

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 ...

A half-century ago, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Explorer 1 spacecraft became America’s first Earth-orbiting satellite when it sailed into space on Jan. 31, 1958. In honor of the historic ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Most of us weren't around to witness the launch of the United States' first successful satellite, ...

IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. This is one of several full-scale ...

Learn about the role that the Jet Propulsion Laboratory played before the creation of NASA. Explorer 1 traces the story of the role JPL played before the creation of NASA and how the lab was given a ...

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 ...