• Vanguard 1 Satellite Model
    Download Image

    This model showcases the Vanguard 1 satellite.  Launched quickly after Sputnik, the first U.S. test satellite failed when its Vanguard launch rocket exploded. It took almost two months before an Army missile launched Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. The first successful U.S. satellite contained a cosmic ray detector, a radio transmitter, and temperature and micrometeoroid sensors. Its flight marked America’s entry in the space race, a new Cold War competition.

  • Vanguard 1 Satellite Model

ID#:

C-1964-71360

Source:

NASA

Owner:

NASA

Rights Usage:

Public Domain

Terms of Use:

Smithsonian Terms of Use