Explorer 1: The Beginning of the Space Age (2007)
• December 1st, 2007 • 0h 53min
Documentary
Overview
"Explorer 1" is the second episode of "Beginnings Of The Space Age". The 60-minute documentary reveals how JPL and the U.S. Army could have been the first to place a satellite into Earth orbit, had they only been given the chance. That opportunity was lost when the Eisenhower administration, unsure of what the Soviet reaction would be to a satellite launched (in part) by the U.S. Army military, hesitated and assigned the project to a civilian-led program called Vanguard. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik in October 1957, shocking the world and creating the "Race for Space" in the midst of the Cold War. Only after the Vanguard rocket exploded on the launch pad were JPL and the U.S. Army given its chance. The result was Explorer 1, the first successful U.S. satellite, which also achieved the first space science results.
Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!
Trailer
Similar Movies
Cosmic Fireballs
Released on: 2001-10-01
Documentary
214 million years ago a gigantic meteorite broke up and impacted Earth. 65 million years ago, the im...
Project Gemini: Bridge to the Moon
Released on: 2003-02-25
Documentary
All of the necessary technologies required to reach the Moon was first tested during Project Gemini,...
Space: The Longest Goodbye
Released on: 2024-03-08
Documentary
Social isolation affects millions of people, even Mars-bound astronauts. A savvy NASA psychologist i...
Apollo 13: Survival
Released on: 2024-03-08
Documentary, History
Using original footage and interviews, this documentary tells the nail-biting story of Apollo 13 and...
Edge of Darkness
Released on: 2015-11-01
Documentary
The film features amazing scenes of places never before seen gathered by key space missions that cul...
The Hunt for Dark Matter
Released on: 2017-05-04
Documentary
CERN and the University of California-Santa Barbara are collaborating in the search for the elusive ...
Failure Is Not an Option
Released on: 2003-08-24
Documentary, History
The Space Race comes alive through the eyes of the ultimate insider - retired NASA Mission Control F...
Saving Skylab: America's First Space Station
Released on: 2020-04-18
Documentary, History
How an electric lineman's tool manufacturer in Centralia, Missouri, helped save the first American s...
Space Chase USA
Released on: 2019-07-11
Documentary
Explores the extraordinary, transformative events Cocoa Beach residents found themselves engaged in ...
Moonscape
Released on: 2013-12-29
Documentary
Moonscape is a free and freely downloadable high-definition documentary about the first manned Moon ...
L'Aventure Rosetta : Aux origines de la vie
Released on: 2015-05-30
Documentary, TV Movie
It was November 12, 2014, at 5:03pm. Humanity had just accomplished a feat that will forever mark it...
Ultimate Mars Challenge
Released on: 2012-11-14
Documentary
With access to the scientists and engineers responsible for the Curiosity rover's on-the-ground expe...
How to film Space
Released on: 2024-03-09
Documentary
A GCSE short film project studying depictions of outer space in movies.
Roving Mars
Released on: 2006-01-27
Documentary
Join the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity for an awe-inspiring journey to the surface of the myste...
Space Station 3D
Released on: 2002-04-17
Documentary
Some 220 miles above Earth lies the International Space Station, a one-of-a-kind outer space laborat...
Destination: Pluto Beyond the Flyby
Released on: 2016-09-23
Documentary
The New Horizons team examines the latest findings and imagery from Pluto and the fringes of our sol...
The Weirdest Weather in the Universe
Released on: 2016-10-22
Documentary
Horizon visits state-of-the-art laboratories and uses CGI to recreate the science-fiction-worthy wea...
In the Shadow of the Moon
Released on: 2007-01-19
Documentary, History
Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus in...
Destiny in Space
Released on: 1994-01-17
Documentary
Travel alongside the astronauts as they deploy and repair the Hubble Space Telescope, soar above Ven...