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63rd Anniversary of Explorer 1
Sunday was the 63rd anniversary of the launch of America’s first satellite, Explorer 1. George Ludwig, who built the instruments for James Van Allen, attended the 50th for Vanguard 1 in 2008. Here are some of his comments.
Well, I was with Jack Townsend in the Russian embassy [when the announcement about Sputnik 1 was made]. We were drinking cocktails. You were talking about the Explorer 1 watch. Well, I would like to tell that story, because it’s a very interesting story. When the decision was made for the Army to go ahead and launch, based on a Jupiter C, it just so happened, by no accident, that our instrument at Iowa fit on both the Vanguard and the Jupiter C. And that was the result of Van Allen’s knowledge from clear back in ’56 of the potential capability of the Jupiter C. We talked this over at great length and made the decision that we would go with a 6-inch diameter package which would fit on Jupiter C and as well would fit within the canister of the Vanguard.
Anyway, after the launch of Sputnik 1, the Army got the go-ahead and the JPL people came out to see me at Iowa and we worked out the arrangement, right at the very beginning of how the instruments would be handled. So, we came to the conclusion that that could only really be brought about if I went out to JPL with all my designs and instruments and help them do the repackaging necessary to get it into the Jupiter C configuration. So, I did that and we and the time for the launch of Explorer 1 came up and I was tied up with JPL to the last minute because I was having trouble calibrating the Geiger counters so I appeared down at the Cape on the day, actually the countdown was underway for the first launch attempt for Explorer One.
Well I got there and I found out that there was no space made available for me to monitor the launch, monitor the instrument signal. So, I found a place by the roadblock, out with the general audience, to listen to the Cape squawk box at the countdown. By the next day, I had checked with Roger [Easton] and Marty [Votaw] and they had said they had modified their receiver at Hangar S to receive the signal from Explorer 1. They invited me to come to the hangar to monitor the launch of Explorer 1. And I did so for the second attempt the three of us stood there at the bench, sat on stools listening to the signal coming from the transmitters on the satellite and, of course, that was scrubbed, too. And, then the third attempt, I was back in Hangar S with my two very good friends, friends forever, Roger and Marty, listening to the signals. I remember that there was not even anybody else in the room, it was just the three of us there by that receiver.
And the launch came about and I was recording in my notebook the switching of the tone on one of the subcarrier oscillators, which indicated the counting rate from the Geiger counter. And, so I monitored that during the countdown and, then, during the ascent. So, that is where I was. By the time of the Explorer 2 and 3 launch, which carried the complete package that I had designed for Vanguard, I had a proper place in the blockhouse monitoring this signal. But the first one carried a much-abbreviated package, just the Geiger counter and a simple scaler and high-voltage power supply. Anyway, that’s where I was for that launch.
Here’s a photo taken in April 1957 at the Naval Research Lab. The IGY big guns are in the first row. George is in the second row far right. Dad and Marty are at the top left.
A book I narrated last year, “Ambassadors from Earth,” had Van Allen’s side of the story, which matches the one you tell nicely. Van Allen was a remarkable man. He and his crew, mostly grad students who built the actual hardware, had plenty of disagreements with Cal Tech and JPL. Van Allen was actually on a ship launching sounding rockets when Sputnik went up, and he and a buddy listened to the signal and calculated its orbital height and velocity by watching the Navy radioman adjust to keep the signal as it Dopplered off into the distance.
That was a good book. I have vivid memories of listening to it while mowing the front yard. (It’s weird. I associate audio books with what I was doing at the time I was listening to them. And sometimes the place or activity evokes memories of the book.)
I met the woman who’d written Van Allen’s biography soon after it came out. I enjoyed it but she got a ton of things wrong about WW2.
That happens to me all the time. I go around a turn in the car and the scenery reminds me of something in an audiobook. I suppose it’s my version of flashbacks.
I had a real blast narrating “Ambassadors from Earth.” The book’s breezy style and language offends some, but I love books that humanize historical figures. Mike Gray’s “Angle of Attack” is a classic example, and Michael Barone’s “Our First Revolution” accomplishes it with the Stuart kings and the Prince of Orange. Histories should be page-turners.
Another fascinating story of the early days of space exploration. 63 years before Explorer 1 there were hardly any automobiles, no airplanes, the first coast-to-coast telephone call had not yet been made. What an amazing time was the 20th century.
I have one request and that is to create a little more white space in the quotation to make it easier to read.
I added paragraphs which were not in the transcript. Excerpts from the four panelists are https://youtu.be/HS72o86aeZo
There’s a brief clip of my wife and father 15 seconds into the video.
And just 11 years after Explorer 1, we put a man on the moon and returned him safely to Earth. Amazing.
Really enjoyed this. Very cool photo!
Thanks! Here’s a picture from the Vanguard 1 50th. Ludwig is in the back just to the right of the picture of the Vanguard 1 launch.
Biggifiable version of the photo here for those who want a closer look.
And here is the one of the youngsters in the days when narrow ties were coming into style.
Here’s Marty and dad with Vanguard TV-3 at the National Air and Space Museum.
A few of the people in this picture were at the Vanguard 1 60th a decade later.
https://thespacereview.com/article/3477/1