1. The Original Science Robot
Re: Gold Box Explorer 1.2 « Reply #6 on: September 03, 2015, 11:10:47 PM » Ok, I was checking over various files, and I noticed some of the combat images in Dark Queen of Krynn are funny looking - some in CBODY.TLB are red silhouettes with a green background, and some of the tiles in dungcom.tlb and wildcom.tlb have a pink/orange hue.
Sixty years ago this week, the United States sent its first satellite into space on Jan. 31, 1958. The spacecraft, small enough to be held triumphantly overhead, orbited Earth from as far as 1,594 miles (2,565 km) above and made the first scientific discovery in space. It was called, appropriately, Explorer 1.
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2. Why It’s Important
The world had changed three months before Explorer 1’s launch, when the Soviet Union lofted Sputnik into orbit on Oct. 4, 1957. That satellite was followed a month later by a second Sputnik spacecraft. All of the missions were inspired when an international council of scientists called for satellites to be placed in Earth orbit in the pursuit of science. The Space Age was on.
3. It … Wasn’t Easy
When Explorer 1 launched, NASA didn’t yet exist. It was a project of the U.S. Army and was built by Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. After the Sputnik launch, the Army, Navy and Air Force were tasked by President Eisenhower with getting a satellite into orbit within 90 days. The Navy’s Vanguard Rocket, the first choice, exploded on the launch pad Dec. 6, 1957.
4. The People Behind Explorer 1
University of Iowa physicist James Van Allen, whose proposal was chosen for the Vanguard satellite, had made sure his scientific instrument – a cosmic ray detector – would fit either launch vehicle. Wernher von Braun, working with the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Alabama, directed the design of the Redstone Jupiter-C launch rocket, while JPL Director William Pickering oversaw the design of Explorer 1 and other upper stages of the rocket. JPL was also responsible for sending and receiving communications from the spacecraft.
5. All About the Science
Explorer 1’s science payload took up 37.25 inches (95 cm) of the satellite’s total 80.75 inches (2.05 meters). The main instruments were a cosmic-ray detector; internal, external and nose-cone temperature sensors; a micrometeorite impact microphone; a ring of micrometeorite erosion gauges; and two transmitters. There were two antennas in the body of the satellite and its four flexible whips formed a turnstile antenna that extended with the rotation of the satellite. Electrical power was provided by batteries that made up 40 percent of the total payload weight.
6. At the Center of a Space Doughnut
The first scientific discovery in space came from Explorer 1. Earth is surrounded by radiation belts of electrons and charged particles, some of them moving at nearly the speed of light, about 186,000 miles (299,000 km) per second. The two belts are shaped like giant doughnuts with Earth at the center. Data from Explorer 1 and Explorer 3 (launched March 26, 1958) led to the discovery of the inner radiation belt, while Pioneer 3 (Dec. 6, 1958) and Explorer IV (July 26, 1958) provided additional data, leading to the discovery of the outer radiation belt. The radiation belts can be hazardous for spacecraft, but they also protect the planet from harmful particles and energy from the Sun.
Today, these belts are known as the Van Allen Belts; two NASA spacecraft, the Van Allen Probes, have been exploring this region since 2012.
7. 58,376 Orbits
Explorer 1’s last transmission was received May 21, 1958. The spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up on March 31, 1970, after 58,376 orbits. From 1958 on, more than 100 spacecraft would fall under the Explorer designation.
8. Find Out More!
Want to know more about Explorer 1? Check out the website and download the poster celebrating 60 years of space science. go.nasa.gov/Explorer1
9. Hold the Spacecraft In Your Hands
Create your own iconic Explorer 1 photo (or re-create the original), with our Spacecraft 3D app. Follow @NASAEarth this week to see how we #ExploreAsOne. https://go.nasa.gov/2BmSCWi
10. What’s Next?
All NASA missions can trace a lineage to Explorer 1. This year alone, we’re going to expand the study of our home planet from space with the launch of two new satellite missions (GRACE-FO and ICESat-2); we’re going back to Mars with InSight; and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will search for planets outside our solar system by monitoring 200,000 bright, nearby stars. Meanwhile, the Parker Solar Probe will build on the work of James Van Allen when it flies closer to the Sun than any mission before.
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© Provided by Space nullWorld Space Week 2020 will celebrate the impact of satellites on humanity from Oct. 4 to Oct. 10. Find out how to celebrate here and check out the history of Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite ever to fly, below!
Explorer 1 was the United States' first satellite in space. The 1958 launch of the satellite — twice the size of a basketball — was an important moment for the country, as the Space Race with the Soviet Union was just beginning.
The satellite marked a moment when the United States got its confidence back after a series of unsuccessful launches and the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik. The satellite also helped buttress the nation's technological confidence in the eyes of the world. It signaled that the country was ready to explore the universe.
Spurred by the Soviets
Explorer 1's ride to space came through a complicated set of circumstances. The United States had at least three main rocket options for sending the satellite into space. The ones that are most remembered today are Vanguard — under development by the Navy — and Juno. The latter rocket was based on an Army rocket designed by German scientist Wernher Von Braun, who worked on the V-2 missile program that sent bombs to England during World War II.
The satellite was supposed to launch as the United States' contribution to science during International Geophysical Year (which ran from 1957-1958). Calendarique 2 0 1. Then history intervened. The Soviet Union rocketed Sputnik into space on Oct. 4, 1957. This was the first artificial satellite any nation sent out of the Earth. The launch — revealed only after it was a success — stunned most of the Western world. It was a coup for Soviet rocket technology, and led some to muse that bombs could be launched just as easily as a satellite.
This accelerated the United States' plans. Rocket and satellite engineers quickly got to work, trying to prove they were also capable of launching into space.
Behind the Vanguard
On Dec. 6 of that year, a long two months after Sputnik, live reports of the Vanguard rocket carrying Explorer 1 broadcast in televisions and radios across the United States.
Vanguard, according to NASA, was chosen because it had more overtones of a civilian program — a policy decision going all the way up to President Dwight Eisenhower, who did not want the appearance of using ballistic rockets intended for military purposes to usher in the new Space Age.
Unfortunately, the rocket exploded moments after the launch in front of TV cameras. Amid headlines such as 'Kaputnik,' senior space officials took stock and examined their alternatives. Behind closed doors, they decided to proceed with the Juno rocket.
Preparations at Cape Canaveral went on in secrecy for weeks, according to NASA, but as the launch date approached the media was informed. Explorer 1 successfully flew into space on Jan. 31, 1958. A female team of scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory calculated the rocket's trajectory, and team member Barbara Paulson recalled in an interview that she was the one confirming that Explorer 1 made it safely into space.
One of history's most famous space photos occurred that night. Von Braun and two other people held a model Juno rocket over their heads during a press briefing concerning the successful launch. It was a good night for the Germans, as well as for the American space program.
Explorer 1's science
Explorer 1's launch was a large policy coup, to be sure, but what was also interesting was the science the little satellite beamed back. Its prime science experiment was a cosmic ray detector designed by James Van Allen, a physicist at the University of Iowa. Cosmic rays are energetic radiated particles from space — bits of atoms that can include protons, electrons or nuclei.
The little satellite detected fewer cosmic rays in its orbit (which ranged from 220 miles from Earth to 1,563 miles) than Van Allen expected.
The physicist proposed this might be because radiation in Earth's magnetic field may prevent the cosmic rays from coming in. Explorer 3, launched in March 1958, discovered these magnetic field belts. Today, they are known as the Van Allen Belts.
Simplicity and reliability
Of Explorer 1's 30 pounds, more than 18 pounds of that was made up of instruments. Besides the cosmic ray detectors, it also carried experiments such as temperature sensors (both internal and external) and a microphone to listen for micrometeorites hitting the satellite.
![Explorer Explorer](https://media.springernature.com/m685/springer-static/image/art:10.1038%2Fs41467-017-00016-6/MediaObjects/41467_2017_16_Fig1_HTML.jpg)
NASA painted the instrument portion of the satellite white and dark green, which was supposed to regulate temperatures on the section. Dark colors absorb more heat, and white absorb less. The agency notes that the satellite was simple by design, as they wanted to ensure it was as reliable as possible.
On that count, NASA succeeded. Explorer 1 sent data back to Earth for four months, ceasing communications on May 23, 1958. The satellite remained aloft for more than a decade before re-entering Earth's atmosphere on March 31, 1970.
Explorer 1 spawned a series of other satellites. While Explorers 2 and 5 failed due to rocket stage problems, Explorers 3 and 4 both launched successfully in 1958 and transmitted science from orbit.
Even though the satellites are no longer working, their legacy remains. They launched the United States into space and showed that it was possible to do science from orbit.
Recent Van Allen belt findings
Explorer 1 discovered the Van Allen belts, and subsequent missions in the Explorer series uncovered more details about their nature. Today, the belts are being probed in more detail by the Van Allen probes, which launched in 2012. This is the first time that two spacecraft simultaneously studied the belts.
Shortly after their launch, the probes were turned on to supplement data from the SAMPEX (Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer) mission before the latter mission was concluded. It is not typical for a mission to start science observations right away as the instruments are still being configured. In this case, however, NASA wanted to take advantage of the probes being in space at the same time as SAMPEX. A fortuitously timed solar storm led to an immediate finding: the Van Allen probes uncovered evidence of a third belt affected by the storm, as well as the two belts that were already known.
The probes' mission is still ongoing, but some of the key science findings include:
News Explorer 1 2 2004
- Examining how the radiation belts protect Earth from high-energy particles;
- Finding that the belts' shape depends on what kind of electrons are being studied (which means that depending on the electron being looked at, the belts can be unified or separate);
- Ongoing studies on how the belts change during geomagnetic storms. In 2015, the probes revealed an interplanetary shock (when charged particles from the sun create a shock in some areas of the belt).