Tweet
After some spectacular failures, the United States successfully launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, into Earth orbit on January 31, 1958. It was an important step for the United States in the Cold War and its first response in the space race after Russia had successfully launched two satellites. Sputnik 1 began orbiting Earth in October 1957 and Sputnik 2, which carried a dog, launched in November 1957.
In this photo taken at a press conference after the launch of Explorer 1, the three men given most credit for its success, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director William Pickering, scientist James Van Allen, and rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun (from left to right), hoist a scale model of the satellite.
Explorer 1 was 80 inches long with a diameter of 6.25 inches. Note the wires coming from the middle of the model. They represented the satellite's antenna.
Computers were critical to success of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the 1940s and 1950s. Except during this time period, "computer" was the job title of each member of this all-female team, which did math manually to plot satellite trajectories.
Explorer 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard a Jupiter C rocket on January 31, 1958 at 10:48 p.m. EST. The JPL and the Army Ballistic Missile Ballistic Agency coordinated the launch as NASA did not exist until October 1958.
The Jupiter C rocket was based on Germany's V-2 rockets, which were developed and used to bomb London during World War II.
