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The successful launch of Explorer 1 by the US from "summary" of Ignition! by John Drury Clark
In the dark days of 1957, when the Soviet Union stunned the world with the launch of Sputnik 1, the United States was thrown into a frenzy of activity. The humiliating realization that the Soviets had beaten them in the space race sparked a sense of urgency and determination among American scientists and engineers. In response to the Soviet threat, the US government pushed forward with ambitious plans to launch their own satellite into orbit. This led to the birth of Project Vanguard, a collaborative effort between the military, academia, and industry. However, the project was plagued with setbacks and delays, resulting in a series of embarrassing failures. Amidst the chaos of Project Vanguard, a small team of scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California proposed an alternative approach. They suggested using a modified version of the Army's Jupiter-C rocket to launch a satellite into orbit. Despite skepticism from some quarters, the proposal gained tracti...
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