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[Bugle music plays]

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This is The Big Picture, an official 
television report of the United

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States Army, produced by the Armed 
Forces and the American people.

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Now, to show you part of the big picture, 
here is Master Sergeant Stuart Queen.

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At 10:48 PM Easter Standard 
Time on January 31, 1958,

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the attention of the American people 
was focused on Cape Canaveral,

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Florida as a giant rocket was 
catapulted toward outer space. Few

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events in American history have 
been so awakened, prayed for,

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worked for, as the Army successful 
launching of Explorer I.

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Today’s big picture will reveal the 
dramatic, suspenseful story of how

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the Army, when the prestige of the 
United States throughout the world had

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had been shaken by events beyond 
its control, stirred the hearts and

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emotions of the American people 
with an epic display of scientific

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and technical teamwork. Our 
story starts eighty-four days

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before the launching of Explorer I. The 
date, the morning on November 8, 1957

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in Huntsville Alabama. A sudden meeting 
has been called by General John B.

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Medaris, commanding general of the 
Army Ballistic Missile Agency.

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“Good morning, gentleman, be 
seated, please. I have a very

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important announcement for you. We have 
been assigned the mission in launching

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a scientific Earth satellite. We will use 
the Jupiter-C configuration as a

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carrier that we developed along with 
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I

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promised the Secretary of the 
Army that we would be ready in

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ninety days or less. 
Let’s go, Wernher.”

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This is what they have been waiting 
for. The deadline is ninety

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days, ninety days to put a satellite into 
orbit, a crash program, an emergency.

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The American people had become 
aware of that emergency long

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before when a Soviet Sputnik 
beep-beeped its way across the sky.

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The reaction was one of astonishment 
and concern, for it was

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well-known that a potential enemy was 
at least temporarily ahead in developing

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means for space travel. The action. 
Counter reaction. All at once,

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American’s were interested in the 
on-coming age of space. With the

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curiosity came a mounting, swelling 
demand to get a satellite into the air

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on the double. But, there were 
disappointments. It was an immensely

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difficult job and the first 
American attempt with

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a Vanguard rocket was a failure. 
[Rocket Explosion]

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That was the background to 
the assignment to the Army

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Ballistic Missile Agency on November 8, 
1957, put a satellite into orbit within

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ninety days. There was no sense of panic 
as the capability for doing the job had been

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ABMA’s since 1954. ABMA was a crack
team headed by old pros of the

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the missile team. Dr. Wernher von 
Braun, director of the Development

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Operations Division, supervised 
over three thousand scientists,

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engineers, and technicians with more 
years of practical experience than

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any similar group elsewhere.

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Long before a countdown starts 
at a launching pad, precise

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miniature replicas of the individual 
sections are made and subjected

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to numerous tests. Even the model work 
comes after a countless number of

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hours at the drafting table. Each new 
experiment, each test means more

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knowledge, which may mean a 
change of design. There are often

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no precedents. It is creative work 
by creative men and women

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absorbed in the fascinating problems 
of space flight. It would be

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difficult to find a science which does 
not have something to contribute.

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Even as the research and design work, 
along with the incessant testing,

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goes on, the missiles take shape 
in the vast construction shops. In the

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development phase, no two missiles are 
alike. Each one contains changes and

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improvements on what has come before. 
All efforts are made to perfect the

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missiles quickly, but, every day 
presents an obstacle course of unique

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problems. Even the welding, for 
example, involved special techniques

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needed to satisfy the specific 
requirements of a missile. Now, added

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to the already numerous complications, 
the ABMA development

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team had the job of modifying an 
existing missile system for the purpose

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of achieving orbital capacity.

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The decision was passed down, 
modify the Redstone ballistic missile,

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the Army’s most powerful weapons 
carrier over a two-hundred-mile range.

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Why the Redstone? It had proved
itself again and again on the ABMA

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launching pads at Cape 
Canaveral, Florida.

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[Music Playing]

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[Rocket Launching]

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At Huntsville, Alabama, the steady 
success of the Redstone

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firings confirmed they were going to be the 
ones to put up a satellite. Work on

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modifications was accelerated around 
the clock. The tests of components,

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assemblies, everything that goes into the 
missile. Question, will a small piece of

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metal alloy withstand the hottest part of 
the rocket’s exhaust? No guesswork,

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the ABMA people have to know. The
rocket’s exhaust will be too much for

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the alloy, it melts. So, they will 
develop a better one.

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The final test at ABMA, the big 
one where the results of

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thousands of tests are checked out
 is the static firing. Held firmly in

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place, it’s rocket engines filled with 
fuel, the assembled missile is studied

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during full-force firing. In the blockhouse 
sheathed in concrete where

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the operating controls and personnel 
are located, the countdown has

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started. A few seconds before 
firing, the water is turned on.

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Four thousand gallons a minute are
 required to cool the flame

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deflector of the test stand in the 
simulated flight where the missile

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will stay right where she is. The countdown 
moves along to the fateful moment.

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[Rocket Firing]

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The static test is over. The rocket is
 taken down and dried out.

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A closer examination of the rocket 
by observer teams will determine

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how various parts withstood the 
static test firing. The static firing

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was successful and the modified 
Redstone, which would serve as the

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first stage of the satellite-bearing 
rocket, was loaded aboard a plane.

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[Aircraft Noise]

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Next stop, Cape Canaveral, Florida. 
But meanwhile, far across the

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country at the Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory, a sprawling eighty

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-eight-acre research and development 
complex in Pasadena, California,

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scientists and engineers were racing 
toward the same deadline, ninety days

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to put a satellite into orbit. Their 
job, furnish the high-speed

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upper stages to take over 
after the first stage

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powered the satellite to the prescribed 
distance from the Earth.

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JPL also assembled the satellite 
and provided instrumentation

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to transmit the scientific data. When
 completed, the cylinder contained two

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transmitters, their battery power supplies, 
and instrumentation for transmitting

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data on cosmic rays, meteorite erosion, 
and temperature measurements. The data

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would be dispatched continuously 
by the two transmitters.

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Assembled, the satellite appears 
small, but, if all went well, seven

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and a half minutes from the time the 
giant missile bearing it would

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leave the Earth, the cylinder would be 
hurtling independently through space at

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a little over eighteen thousand 
miles per hour, if all went well.

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The checkout on the JPL tests 
stand went smoothly, but only

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the launching pad at Cape Canaveral, 
Florida would tell the story.

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The date, Wednesday 29 January 1958, 
eight days before the deadline

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set down by General Medaris. On 
the morning of the twenty-ninth,

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the weather was not good. The 
prediction was for thunderstorms and

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unsatisfactory Jetstream conditions 
aloft. A twenty-four-hour postponement

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was decided upon. The hours passed with 
the rocket crews working swiftly and

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intensively. There was a whole set 
of operations to be completed

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at least twenty-four hours before 
the countdown starts.

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It was not until Friday, January 
31st that the weather cleared

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sufficiently for General Medaris to 
order launch at 10:30 PM. Men worked

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on the lines, pipes and servicing units on 
the pad, others clambered above the

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various gantry levels. As is so 
often said in the Army

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but rarely with more 
accuracy, this was it.

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Before the countdown was to start, 
the satellite and last stage rocket,

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shrouded to prevent even the slightest 
abrasion, was at the launching pad.

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Dwarfed by the giant missile and
 the protective scaffold of the

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gantry, the payload, weighing 30.8 
pounds, eighty inches in length, is

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raised toward the tow where it will be 
carefully fitted into place like a glittering

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jewel in a luminous setting. At X minus 
two hours, hydyne, an exotic liquid

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oxygen oxidizer for the fuel 
begins to flow into the

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tanks. Frosty white vapor 
hisses from the vents.

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Minutes click past relentlessly, 
the beams of powerful search lights

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light up the missile, truly the star of 
one of the greatest suspense dramas

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of our time. The drama approaches 
the final act, the Army’s first

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attempt to fire a manmade 
moon into orbit. Time, late

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evening, Friday January 31, 
1958 in a blockhouse at

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Canaveral, the countdown to Explorer I.

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“Okay, we’ll start now.”
“Any fuel loading?”

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“Take away, Grady. Okay, check 
with the utility room fuel

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vapors and notify the blockhouse when 
we’re clear to start generators.”

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“Control voltage on.”
“Gyros on?”

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“Gyros on.”
“Gyro erection on?”

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“Gyro erection on.”“Check the lock 
loading has been completed.”

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“Roger.”
“Connect assembly two with matters.”

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“Okay, power down the leads.”
“Roger. Call your projected path.”

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“Okay.”
[Clicking Noise]

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“Quick reading after last scaffold 
is removed. AFMTC

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telemeter calibration tape on. 
Start vibration and RPM recorders.”

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[Clicking Noise.] “Check all operating lights and 
meters for proper operation. Fire panel check?”

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“Fire panel okay.”
“Control panel check?"

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“Control panel okay.”
“Roger. Major panel check?”

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“Major panel okay.”
“Roger. Foster control panel check?”

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“Foster control panel okay.”
‘Roger.”

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“Gyro erect and all?”
“Gyro erect and all.”

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“Water drive on.”
“Water drive on.”

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“Power transfer test on. Observe and record 
all voltages.” “Power transfer test on.”

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“Power transfer off.”
“Power transfer off.”

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“Once we’re clear to launch, 
clear to launch.”

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”Over twenty-one deflection in jet 
vein number two. We either have

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a relay kicking out or there is 
something dropping down on the jet vein.”

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“Hold. Telemeter indicated the jet vein 
two is deflected. What do you want to do?”

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“Forget it.”
“Okay. Resume count.”

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“Okay. Should we go ahead.” "Roger."
[Clicking Noise.]

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“Forty-five seconds rotor drive on and 
front arm.”[Nondescript talking]

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“Recording on?”
“Yup.”

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“Twenty- seconds. Frequency 
one-eleven. Fifteen seconds.”

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“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, 
five, four, three, two, one.

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Firing command. Rocket 
pressurized. Ignition! Lift off!”

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[Rocket Launching]

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The missile is in flight, but the 
success of its mission is still in

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doubt. It will take another hour and a 
half to know whether the satellite

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is in orbit, the most intense 
and harrowing wait of all.

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Minute-track stations located 
throughout the world by the Army,

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Air Force, and Navy followed the 
movements of the Army Earth satellite.

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At each of the stations, 
a minute-track radio system

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received signals from a 
transmitter in the satellite.

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About midnight, not far from the 
now empty launching

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pad, General Medaris finally called 
his assistant, Colonel Leonard Orman.

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“Hello, Len. You can send this out 
to the secretary that our satellite

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is definitely on orbit. Now, get that 
off and then I will give you

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the figures in a few minutes. 
Okay, boy.”

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In Washington at the National 
Academy of Science, a packed

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auditorium of reporters, radio and TV 
interviewers, heard the announcement of

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Dr. Richard Porter, chairman of 
the IGY Committee.

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“The National Academy of Sciences and 
the National Science Foundation

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announce that as part of the U.S.-
International Geophysical Year Program,

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a scientific Earth satellite was placed in 
orbit at five seconds after 10:55 PM by

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means of a Jupiter-C rocket vehicle launched 
by the Army at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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A similar statement is being issued by 
the president. I should like to add

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my personal congratulations to the Army 
Ballistic Missile Agency and to Dr.

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von Braun and Dr. Pickering and 
their colleagues for a job well done.”

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Before the news conference The 
Big Picture camera, Sargent

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Stuart Queen drew Dr. von Braun 
aside for a special interview.

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“Dr. von Braun, I wonder if 
you could tell our Big

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Picture viewers just what did transpire 
during those eighty-four days?”

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“Well, they were hectic eighty-four 
days, I can assure you

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that. A project like firing a satellite 
into orbit is only possible if there is

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splendid teamwork all the way through. In this 
particular case, this teamwork involved at

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close cooperation between our own Army 
Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville,

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Alabama and the Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

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Between the two of us, the vehicle 
was developed that carried the

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satellite into orbit. There was also 
very close cooperation between

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us and Iowa State University, 
which pioneered the payload.

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Jet Propulsion Laboratory also had a big 
hand in repackaging this payload for our

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vehicle because this payload was 
originally designed with the Vanguard

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vehicle in mind as a potential carrier. 
Other groups that deserve much

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credit in our successful satellite try 
are the military and civilian personnel

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of Patrick Air Force Base down in 
Florida from where the missile was

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fired. The fringe operation down 
there and everybody from

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the command of the crew and ground 
down to the last cameraman gave us

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splendid support. The tracking of the 
missile as it circles around the globe

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is in the hands of both IGY personnel 
and personnel of the Naval

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You have an example here of 
splendid teamwork involving all

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three services. I hope this example 
will show that you need not

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believe everything you hear and 
read about inter-service rivalry

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and its detrimental effects. 
There is actually a lot of fine

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teamwork between the services when 
it comes to getting things done.”

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Twenty minutes later, Dr. Porter 
opened the question and answer

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session by introducing three of the key 
men in the success story of Explorer I.

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“Credit for the technical part of
this achievement and many others

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in this country, first Dr. Wernher von 
Braun, director for Development

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Operations of the Army Ballistic Missile 
Agency. Dr. von Braun, would you rise,

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please? Dr. James A. van Allen, head 
of the physics department at the State

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University of Iowa, who is chairman of 
the working group on internal

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instrumentation of the panel for the 
Earth Satellite Program. Dr. van Allen.

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And Dr. William H. Pickering, director 
of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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of the California Institute of 
Technology, chairman of our working

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group on tracking and computation. 
These three gentlemen have

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all had a direct and important 
part in this achievement.”

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[Applause]

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“Now, if would like to address your 
questions, I will try to repeat the

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question and we will ask one of these 
gentlemen best qualified to answer it for you.”

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“Dr. von Braun, how many 
stages in the device?”

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“We have a total of four stages. 
The first stage is an elongated

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Redstone missile with extra-long tanks 
and special fuel combination, which

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burns for approximately 140 seconds, 
145 seconds. Immediately after cutoff,

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we separate the front portion of this missile, 
the so-called instrument compartment, from

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the tank section. This instrument compartment 
is equipped with a special aptitude

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control system, as we call it, that 
aligns this portion, including the

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spinning launcher in the nose, in an 
exactly horizontal position. Once this

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nose section with the spinning cluster 
configuration in the nose goes

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through the apex of the trajectory 
the top stages are fired. There

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are three solid rocket stages in 
the top, so it is a four-stage vehicle.”

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“How does this altitude 
compare with the Sputniks?”

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“This is somewhat greater than the 
altitude of either Sputnik I or

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Sputnik II.”

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“The question is, has any form of 
life been placed in the satellite?

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I think I could answer that one 
almost myself, not intentionally.”

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[Laughter]

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“Maybe we have a Florida cockroach 
inside, we don’t know.”

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Everybody welcomed the touches 
of humor, for it was, after

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all, an hour of jubilation. “Just one more” 
became the inevitable plea from the

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photographers. As exhausted as they 
were, the trio obliged with what was

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to be the page one spread in 
newspapers all over the world. In plain

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language, the United States was in 
the space business along

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with the Russians and Explorer I 
was the beginning.

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Just under two months after 
Explorer I was put into orbit and

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close on the heels of a successful firing 
of the Navy’s Vanguard, a launching

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pad at Canaveral awaited another 
Army satellite, Explorer III.

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The Army’s first success had not 
washed away the rocket

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men’s humility, for there are a countless 
number of things that can go wrong

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in the operation. Indeed, Explorer II 
fired successfully had failed to go

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into orbit because of one tiny 
component in the last stage.

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Maybe that was why along the
 Florida beaches many fingers

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were crossed as eyes stared toward 
Explorer III. Shortly before launch,

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the upper stages are set rotating. If 
the spin were not provided, the payload

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would be hopelessly deflected.

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[Launch Sounds]

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Explorer II was reported in 
orbit. Again, news flashed

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instantaneously throughout the world, 
in every language, to every country.

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Wherever the news went, it had an 
effect of transcendent importance.

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The scientific and technical prestige 
of the United States was

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enhanced. People everywhere 
knew the free world would not

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be left behind in the all-important 
race toward outer space.

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Now, American could once 
again look up toward

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their future with faith 
and with confidence.

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And so, two Explorers were in orbit. 
Momentous achievements made

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possible by the close cooperation 
of the Army with some of

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the best technical and scientific minds 
in the land. As these satellites raced

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through the uncharted upper atmospheres, 
there would come a steady

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stream of information to enrich our 
knowledge of the worlds about us.

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The infinity that lies far, far 
beyond the wild blue yonder.

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“Now, this is Sargent Stuart Queen, 
your host for the Big Picture.”

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[Music Playing]

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The Big Picture is an official 
television report for the armed

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Forces and the American People.
Produced by the Army Pictorial Center