Pioneer 1 Preparing for Launch, 1958
Thor-Able 1 with the Pioneer 1 spacecraft atop, prior to launch at Eastern Test Range at what is now Kennedy Space Center. On October 11, 1958, Pioneer 1 became the first spacecraft launched by the 11 day old National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It it did not reach the Moon as planned due to a programming error in the upper stage causing a slight error in burnout velocity and angle ( deg.) The real-time transmission was obtained for about 75% of the flight, but the percentage of data recorded for each experiment was variable. The spacecraft ended transmission when it reentered the Earth's atmosphere after 43 hours of flight on October 13 over the South Pacific Ocean. A small quantity of useful scientific information was returned, showing the radiation surrounding Earth was in the form of bands and measuring the extent of the bands, mapping the total ionizing flux, making the first observations of hydromagnetic oscillations of the magnetic field, and taking the first measurements of the density of micrometeorites and the Interplanetary Magnetic Field.
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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