Posted on 03/16/2023 8:40:02 PM PDT by Richard from IL
Vanguard 1, designed by my father, was launched 65 years ago. I talked about it on The John Batchelor Show. https://www.thespaceshow.com/show/06-dec-2017/broadcast-3030-hotel-mars-richard-easton
My dad designed the Minitrack tracking system and the test vehicle satellites. The Vanguard proposal in 1955 was superior to the Army’s proposal in terms of its scientific uses. Originally vB didn’t have a radio tracking system for what became Explorer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS72o86aeZo
Here’s an article I wrote about the 60th.
https://thespacereview.com/article/3477/1
Around $300 on ebay. US Space Corps before its time.
Awesome!
What would be cool would be sending a mission to retrieve Vanguard, bring it home and put it on display for all to see.
It would be a shame to let it burn up.
That's an amazing story! I recall the headlines and pictures in our newspaper, the LA Times, the morning after the explosion.
Today, satellite communications are a major part of our economy and lifestyle, but the dawn of the Space Age, with Sputniks, Explorers and Vanguards flying into orbit, was an exciting time.
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