Image from NASA
On 31 January 1958, the United States launched its very first satellite, the Explorer 1! It blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard a special Jupiter-C rocket.
This came after an earlier attempt using a Vanguard rocket, which had exploded just seconds after takeoff. Explorer 1, however, was built for a comeback!
Instead of celebrating too early, the team stayed quiet and waited. Only when a signal was picked up in California did they know for SURE it was a successful launch.
When confirmation finally arrived, the news of Explorer 1’s successful orbit spread fast, grabbing headlines worldwide and marking a huge milestone for the United States’ space program!
After its launch, Explorer 1 continued on to zip around Earth! It circled our planet once every 114.8 minutes, clocking in about 12.5 orbits a day.
Day after day, Explorer 1 kept going. By the time its journey was over, it had circled Earth an astonishing 58,000 times. Explorer 1 finally fell silent on 23 May 1958, when its batteries ran out of power. Even so, it remained in orbit for years, continuing to go around and around the planet.
Finally, on 31 March 1970, its long journey came to a close. Explorer 1 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, burning up over the Pacific Ocean in a fiery farewell.
Even though Explorer 1’s journey ended in a blaze of light, its legacy never faded. Long after it disappeared from the sky, its story continued, inspiring new missions and new explorers! Maybe you’ll be the one to build the next big spacecraft ⭐
That will be it from me today! Until next time!
Big warm hugs,
Rexy
Thinklery’s Resident Chomper 🦖
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