The Explorer Missions

                                                                                          

   The Explorer missions were part of the space race that occur in the 1950's and 1960's. The first mission was to launch an unmanned spacecraft up into space caring a satellite. The Soviet Union beat us with their satellite Sputnik. There have been many missions so far and 5 have lasted longer than 10 years. All of these satellites had missions that brought us valuable data. The longest lasting mission was 26 years and it still gives us valuable information on the solar wind. Over the years there has been a total of 78 missions and only 4 have failed. Almost every mission that did not fail, brought some new kind of technology to space. Missions 50 67-74 and 77-78 are still operating today. Almost all of the Explorer missions were launched into space on a Jupiter C rocket.

 

  Above is a diagram of the rocket for Explorer. This picture basically shows all of the main parts of the rocket that launched Explorer to space.

                                                                              

To the left is a picture that Explorer one of the Explorer missions took from space in space. The photo was taken on November 8th, 1981. Below is a more advanced picture that was taken from the later years of the Explorer missions.

                                          

 

   The Explorer Missions

Explorer 1- This satellite was the first satellite of the United States. It was launched on February 1, 1958. The objective was to reach space.

Explorer 2- This satellite failed to reach orbit. It was launched on March 5, 1958. Due to malfunction the fourth stage of the rocket did not ignite.

Explorer 3- This Explorer satellite was nearly identical to explorer 1 in design and mission. It was launched March 26, 1958

Explorer 4- The launch took place on July 26, 1958. The Objective was to make the first detailed measurements of charged particles trapped in the terrestrial radiation belts. It decayed from orbit after 454 days of orbiting.

Explorer 5- The launch took place August 24, 1958 but failed as the rockets booster collided with the second stage after separation, causing upper stage firing to be off mark.

These were 5 of the total of 78 Explorer missions.