Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-02-01
Explorer Attoins
Height
Low Of 1875
Could Have Truded Altitude
For More PuyIood, Won Braun Says
BY L. EDGAR PRINA
Star star Writer


Star star Writer
Americas first earth satellite the lone voice in outer
space today blazing path around
the earth Approximately every ia minutes.
Before 10 am. the Naval Research Laboratory where
worldwide tracking information being gathered reported
that the baby moon had completed six orbits since
Army Jupiter rocket roared OF with it from launching
pad at Cape Canavera Fla, at 10:48 pm. yesterday.
The man-made satellite, chrstened Explorer" by the
Defense Department describing elptca orbit
ing out as far as l700 miles and low 1876 miles,
Inc top altitude for Explorer is far above the altitude
reached by the Russian spunik 11lspod
device. which launched last November Sputnk the
tude Of $50 miles when it shot into space
weighed ls4 ponds sputnk reached top altitude of 1O56
The launching of Explorer eliminates months Of I'm
ne part OF American scientists and military leaders On Octo
Der President Eisenhower sketched time table for the
program when he said the United States would up small
satellite that would not instruments in December
said at the time that the first moon"
previously described weighing about 81 pounds March,
First Sputnik Disintegrated
Sputnk dsntegrated early in January. Sputnik II is
sun IN orbit but its dog is dead and with its radio batteries
dead. its journey is silent
Unlike the Soviet sputniks with their famous beep-
Deps the voice OF Explorer something like the playing of
cordant tune.
While President Eisenhower made the first public an
rapidly At special news conference called at the
One hundred gathered to hear panel OF three
op scientists explain the significance of the achievement of
the Army -science-indusry team.
There considerable drama as Dr. Richard W. Porter
chairman of the technical panel ON the satellite for
the United States International Geophysca Year COMMITTEE
strobe to the platform tense reporters bahed in the
heat OF keg lights appauded vigorously when he
good news.
Minutes later DR.. wernher Braun designer of the
Jupiterc; Dr. James Van Allen, top instrumentation
OF Explorer and Dr. William H. Pickering the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory walked in to answer questions
Dr. Won Braun indicated that the Jupiter would have
tn E enu up sstse Q. CONSIDERABLY greater weight
weighs little over 80 pounds.
Referring to the terrific altitude Of 1000 miles builder
OF Germanys World War II Va rocket said:
we had some pretty healthy padding We could have
sentative and wanted to play It safe" ~ va wa
Dr. Won Braun and other Army scientific and military
the Russians did.
II Hardware Available Two Years
And although last nights firing accomplished with hard-
ware" which has available two years. backed up
these claims Dr. Braun sidesepped question the
matter save to refer to it long and painful story
The Defense Department decided July 1885, to- order
The Nays FIRST effort to launch ended in fiery failure on the
launching pad at Cape canavera last December Earlier
this month"; after several days effort in trying to get the
second shot of the Navy postponed its attempt 1t may
Asked whether he had any doubts Jupter-c firing
would be successful, DR.. Won Braun said
well, did everything could to it. We left
nothing to chance But anything could have happened and
we all had butterflies in our stomachs'
Is Minutes Delay
Dr. Braun said that the Army had aimed 1890
pm launching but that the
1T looked like leak had developed, but found
was just little spilled fuel" he said
Also DR.. Braun disclosed hitherto infor-
nation
He said the the Jupiter-C missile used to
resistance to heat in reey into the atmosphere weighed
about 800 pounds And he said that exotic fuel used
along with liquid oxygen lox prope the big rocket in
last nights firing Normally alcohol used with the lox"
Dr. Braun described the Jupiter satellite rocket
elongated" Redstone missile Army with
Of at least 200 miles which three additional stages of
sold-fueed rockets placed.
The first lqud-fuel engine gave the rocket take
OF hu Of $4,000 pounds he said The first three stages
broke of during the fight and destroyed they
entered the atmosphere.
Dr. Van Allen told the the Explorer had achieved
splendid orbit for scientific purposes He called it happily
elptca because it would provide wide sampng Of space
between 1700 and 1876 mesor the cosmicray measuring
devices inside the bulet-shaped satellite.
He said later during the session that good cosmc
and other elemeeng data has been received the first pass
Of Explorer.
j Burning Interval
The American satellite carries two radio ransmers The
powerful frequency Of l0803 megacyces
and be easily received by ham" radio operators 1t is
expected to last weeks The owpower trans
mtte 10000 probably too faint to be picked
by amateur radio operators may last for two TO three months
the big first stage Of the rocket burned
that each of the top three stages burned
for seconds each-wth second intervals.
The final stage rocket motor necessarily small TO mt in the
cylindrical shell casing developed much power as ve diesel
locomotive engines.
Among the scientific expected be obtained
from the spinning Explorer data on cosmc rays.
i See EXPLORER. Page AS
p