The 50th Anniversary of American Spaceflight: January 31, 2008

50 years ago, the United States launched their first satellite into orbit: Explorer 1. At 9:45pm on January 31, 1958, Explorer 1 reached orbit, 3 months after the Russian satellite Sputnik. Explorer 1 made what is considered to be the first important scientific discovery about space: the Van Allen Radiation Belts. Currently a flight backup, identical to Explorer 1, hangs a few feet away from SpaceShipOne at the National Air and Space Museum.