America's 31-Pound Answer to Sputnik
On January 31, 1958, Explorer 1 became America's first satellite, launched in just 84 days — and it discovered the radiation belts circling Earth.
Tales from the year 1958
The Signature That Launched NASA
On July 29, 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating a civilian space agency that would reach the Moon within eleven years.
90 Degrees North: The Nautilus Slips Under the Pole
On August 3, 1958, the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus became the first vessel in history to reach the North Pole, traveling submerged beneath the Arctic ice.