3d model explorer 1 - Explorer 1 by PerspectX

A detailed model of Explorer 1 with internal parts such as cosmic ray and meteorite package, low-power transmitter, nose cone temperature probe and internal temperature gauge. This
model is scaled as close to the original design. Explorer 1 is the first Earth satellite of the United States.

Texture

Color map is included. Photoshop file can be downloaded for modification/editing purposes.

History

On February 1, 1958 at 03:48 UTC the Juno I rocket was launched putting Explorer 1 into orbit, which made Explorer 1 the first Earth satellite of the United States. The orbit had a perigee of 358 kilometers (222 mi) and an apogee of 2,550 kilometers (1,585 mi) having a period of 114.8 minutes. At about 1:30 A.M. EST, after confirming that that Explorer 1 was indeed in orbit, a press conference was held at the National Academy of Sciences in the Great Hall to announce it to the world.[8] The Explorer 1 payload consisted of the Iowa Cosmic Ray Instrument without a tape data recorder which was not modified in time to make onto the Explorer 1. The real-time data received on the ground was therefore very sparse and puzzling showing normal counting rates and no counts at all. It took until Explorer 3 (which included a tape data recorder) for usable data to be available. The total weight of the satellite was 13.97 kilograms (30.80 lb), of which 8.3 kg (18.3 lb) were instrumentation. In comparison the first Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 weighed 83.6 kg (184 lb). The instrument section at the front end of the satellite and the empty scaled-down fourth-stage rocket casing orbited as a single unit, spinning around its long axis at 750 revolutions per minute.