American Space Age Reaches Fifty Years

Bryansix brings us a story about the 50th anniversary of the United States' entry into the Space Age. On January 31st, 1958, Explorer 1 became the first U.S. satellite to reach orbit. The New York Times is running a similar feature. "Explorer 1 gave America a chance to recover some of its confidence and prestige after the Sputnik shock, but there was a scientific payoff as well: The data returned by the satellite showed that Earth was not surrounded by a swarm of killer pebbles, as some scientists had feared. However, the cosmic-ray readings hinted at the existence of bands of radiation surrounding the planet - an unexpected result that led to the discovery of the Van Allen Belts."

Comments

Re:... and pointless

[Sanat]

I'm convinced that historians will look back on Apollo as the high point of our civilization

I believe we are only a few (3 to 4) years away from being patriotic and supporting America like it was done in the 50's and 60's. Not that we will be at war, but rather true peace. We will have our heroes back and have a bunch of new ones as well. I predict that some individuals will become heroes who even post here on Slashdot for i have read a lot of very thought provoking messages over the last 10 years.

I visualize peace and cooperation in the world beginning to happen at an amazing rate. Perhaps each country will have their share of heroes too... I would be all for that.