Fifty years ago today, America's first satellite, Explorer 1, roared
into space from Cape Canaveral atop a Jupiter C booster (a heavily
modified Redstone missile with three solid-fuel upper stages). The
satellite made the first measurements of cosmic radiation and led to
the discovery, confirmed by Explorer 3, of the Van Allen radiation
belts. A toast to the pioneers!


Erika Lishock and I are proud of our contribution to chronicling this
even in our book The First Space Race Texas A&M University Press,
2004)

For a good collection of NASA and other links to all facets of this
story, see today's NASAWatch (www.nasawatch.com)

Excerpt from review in the military professional journal PARAMETERS:
From PARAMETERS, the Army War College Quarterly
Available at: http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/P...er/sum-rev.htm

The First Space Race: Launching the World's First Satellites. By Matt
Bille and Erika Lishock. College Station: Texas A&M University Press,
2004. 214 pages. $40.00 ($19.95 paper). Reviewed by Dr. James R.
Downey, Professor of Science and Technology, US Army War College.

.....Matt Bille and Erika Lishock address this early history with their
book titled The First Space Race. Packed with copious details and
several first-person accounts, the book provides an excellent
understanding of how the space race began and the effects it had on
the world. In particular, for the national security audience the book
provides a historical insight into the developing competition between
the United States and the former Soviet Union, such that where we are
today can reasonably be traced to the race to space....
In sum, this book provides a superb insight into the early space race
and the overall effects this race had on both the United States and
the Soviet Union. Understanding how efforts in space began is a lens
into the space programs we have today, both military and civilian.
Matt Bille and Erika Lishock's The First Space Race reveals the story
of this world-changing journey.