” Explorer One” is Episode 2 in the documentary series “JPL and the Space Age.”
It was launched on January 31, 1958 by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). JPL was the lab that operated the spacecraft and constructed.
JPL and the Space Age
A classic JPL graphic celebrating the Explorer 1 satellite. America joined the area race with the launch of this small, but important spacecraft. Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech
A number of the techniques surrounding the Cold War focused on two things: nuclear weapons and rockets. And in the United States, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, under the guidance of Caltech, was charged with structure Americas first tactical nuclear rockets: the Corporal and Sergeant missiles.
At this exact same time the United States and the Soviet Union were nearing the capability to release a satellite into Earth orbit. JPL, working in partnership with Wernher von Brauns rocket efforts for the U.S. Army, believed they were completely capable of the task, if only provided the chance. That opportunity vanished in October 1957 when the Soviet Union shocked the world with the launch of Sputnik, the worlds very first satellite. The Space Age was underway. The first U.S. response blew up on the launch pad. Only after that embarrassment were JPL and von Brauns group provided the green light. The success of Explorer 1, a satellite developed by JPL, supplied the world with the very first area science discovery.
Explorer 1 traces the story of the role JPL played before the production of NASA and how the laboratory was given a crucial role as part of this new company: to explore the cosmos.
By NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab
January 14, 2023
A classic JPL graphic commemorating the Explorer 1 satellite. The success of Explorer 1, a satellite built by JPL, supplied the world with the very first area science discovery.
It was introduced on January 31, 1958 by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). JPL was the lab that constructed and ran the spacecraft.
