What is a satellite designed to do?
Satellites are used for many purposes. Among several other applications, they can be used to make star maps and maps of planetary surfaces, and also take pictures of planets they are launched into.
What was the main discovery of the first American satellite in space?
Explorer 1, which launched in January 31, 1958, was the United States’ first successful satellite launch and provided the first data ever transmitted from Space. That data came from a cosmic ray detector on board the satellite invented by physicist James Van Allen.
What was most significant about Explorer I?
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.
What was the science of the Explorer 1 satellite?
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.
What was the first satellite launched into space?
Explorer 1 Explorer 1 became the first successfully launched satellite by the United States when it was sent to space on January 31, 1958. Visit Mission Website
What was the main purpose of Explorer 1?
Key Discoveries. The primary science instrument on Explorer 1 was a cosmic ray detector designed to measure the radiation environment in Earth orbit. Once in space this experiment, provided by Dr. James Van Allen of the State University of Iowa, revealed a much lower cosmic ray count than expected.
When was Explorer 1 sent to space by the US?
About the mission Explorer 1 became the first successfully launched satellite by the United States when it was sent to space on January 31, 1958. A quick response to the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1, Explorer 1’s success marked the beginning of the U.S. Space Age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkI2wpUT0Nk