On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:25:33 -0800 (PST), in a place far, far away,
Matt made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such
a way as to indicate that:

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)

I have a piece up today on all of this week's space anniversaries,
both triumphant and tragic.

http://www.pajamasmedia.com/2008/02/...y_in_space.php