Saturday, January 26, 2008
Remembering Vanguard I
The first American satellite program, Vanguard, is often remembered only for its spectacular failure on December 4, 1957. That's unfair: the program, while not a model of efficiency, went on to launch three satellites, make important scientific contributions, and create advances in launch vehicle technology, tracking systems, and other areas that still pay dividends today. Vanguard program veterans have created this site, which includes a paper by myself and Erika Lishock titled, "Vanguard - Setting the Record Straight."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hi Matt,
Your book is excellent. Check out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msLSW1U1t1U
The first six seconds show yours truly (I'm the youngest in red) and my four siblings arranged around a model of the Vanguard 1 satellite; the rest of the video is a couple of different Martin Co. camera showing the TV-4 launch. The last one is the best. I've been told that the Vanguard was a pretty rocket and this video reflects it.
Again, thanks for writing an excellent book. I working on an account of the invention of GPS (see my article in Vol 14#3 of Quest).
Richard Easton
Thank you very much, Richard. And, yes, it was a pretty rocket.
Post a Comment