Happy anniversary

50th anniversary of Explorer 1
Originally uploaded by faria!.

The posters hung along California Blvd are in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first American satellite launch on January 31 1958. It was our answer to Sputnik. This poster shows a famous image from that time - the scientists William Pickering, Wernher Von Braun and James Van Allen holding a model of Explorer above their heads in celebration.

Onboard the satellite was an instrument designed by Van Allen to detect charged particles, and with it the Explorer discovered ribbons of such particles surrounding the Earth that are now known as the Van Allen radiation belts.

The successful launch of the satellite brought its creator, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory into the spotlight. Within the next decade, we would be on the moon.