50 Years Ago Today

First U.S. Satellite a Triumph of American Ability and Vision, AIA

NASA JPL Explorer 1 website

Explorer I Resolution Introduced to Commemorate 50th Anniversary of the Birth of the U.S. Space Program

“January 31, 2008 marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first U.S. satellite – Explorer I – and the dawn of the U.S. space program. Leaders of the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology marked that anniversary with the introduction of a U.S. House Resolution late yesterday remembering the landmark day and the remarkable advances the U.S. space program has yielded.”

The following 4 videos offer different views of the launch and mission of Explorer 1. In the first video, MSgt. Stuart Queen talks about the Explorer 1 launch: “as a giant rocket was catapaulted into outer space”.

Another video

NASA: Explorer 1 — JPL and the Beginnings of the Space Age

First U.S. Satellite launched – newsreel