#explorer 1

[robinwaaaaa]

Human AU satellites

[tenthpioneer]

hello

and Explorer and Sputnik. this drawing makes them out to be enemies or that explorer doesnt like sputnik, but they become friends.

[cosmoscaptainyuri]

Drew them again. I may post more Traveler content sometimes soon if the fixation doesn’t die in a week.

[gemini-enthusiast]

Views from pad B at Launch Complex 26, now part of the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum. Pad A, just next to pad B and currently closed off with chain-link fence, was the site of the launch of America's first satellite. In 1958, Explorer 1 took off from LC-26 and hurtled the US forward into the Space Age.

I took these pictures about a week and a half ago when I was out wandering around the museum. Looking back towards the blockhouse, I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be a technician working on the pad when Explorer 1 was preparing for launch. It had been a difficult road to get there, with multiple failed attempts to launch an American satellite. There was a lot resting on the shoulders of the small, simple spacecraft, which was intended to prove the existence of the Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth. And not only did it succeed, it also began the storied history of satellite launches from Cape Canaveral that continues to this day.

The complex itself now sits quiet, mostly untouched save for museum visitors or employees working on the station. Since launches from pads A and B wrapped up in the early 60s, they have remained somewhat frozen in time, a testament to the early space program.

[therealuniverse]

THE VAN ALLEN BELTS The Van Allen Belts surround Earth and contain killer electrons, plasma waves and electrical currents that disrupt the electronics on satellites. They are named after James Van Allen, who led the team that discovered them in 1958, during the flight of the first American satellite. The Explorer 1 had on board a Geiger-Müller tube to detect cosmic rays; readings periodically went off the top of the counter’s scale. Follow-up missions, including that of Explorer 3, showed that the space around Earth contained electrons, protons, and energy created by interactions between Earth's magnetosphere, the solar wind, and cosmic rays arriving from beyond the solar system.

The image is an artist’s interpretation of the radiation belts (in green); they are doughnut-shaped regions that are full of high energy particles. The blue and red lines represent the north and south polarity of Earth’s magnetic field. The inner belt is composed of protons and electrons, and can reach down as low as 1,000 kilometres in altitude. The outer belt, which consists mainly of energetic electrons, can reach as high as 60,000 kilometres above Earth’s surface. Both rings go as far as 65 degrees north and south latitude. -TEL http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=78985&src=eoa-iotd Image: T. Benesch and J. Carns for the NASA Science Mission Directorate http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/78000/78985/rbsp_vanallenrings_lrg.jpg

[astronotmovie]

Before the Ranger, Mariner & Project Mercury missions, there was Explorer 1, America’s first space satellite. It launched in Jan 1958 following the Soviet Union’s successful Sputnik 1 & 2 satellite launches in Oct & Nov the year prior. E1 accomplished the feat of being the 1st spacecraft to detect the Van Allen radiation belt. It continued returning data for 4 months until its batteries expired & remained in orbit until 1970! It was launched atop a Jupiter C 🚀.

[literaryformofthelastcentury]

This is what a space history nerd looks like when she’s about to give a virtual speech on Mary Sherman Morgan, America’s first female rocket scientist 🚀💋✨

I hate public speaking and honestly doing it over zoom is no better than in person but this is a topic I’m SUPER PASSIONATE about which makes it a little bit easier

Also I love this dress, so I feel cute which is giving me a confidence boost

[humanoidhistory]

60 YEARS AGO TODAY: On January 31, 1958, the United States joined the space race with the launch of Explorer 1, the first American satellite sent into orbit. (NASA)