On March 26, 1958, the United States launched its third satellite into space.
Explorer 3 was almost identical to Explorer 1, which was the first satellite the U.S. ever launched. Explorer 3 launched on a Juno I rocket from Cape Canaveral and entered an eccentric orbit. This means it was following a long elliptical path around the Earth. Its payload included a cosmic ray counter and a micrometeorite detector. The data from Explorer 3 and Explorer 1 led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. This is a region around the Earth where charged particles from the sun get trapped by Earth's magnetic field. Explorer 3 spent 93 days orbiting the Earth before its orbit decayed.
Explorer 3 was almost identical to Explorer 1, which was the first satellite the U.S. ever launched. Explorer 3 launched on a Juno I rocket from Cape Canaveral and entered an eccentric orbit. This means it was following a long elliptical path around the Earth. Its payload included a cosmic ray counter and a micrometeorite detector. The data from Explorer 3 and Explorer 1 led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. This is a region around the Earth where charged particles from the sun get trapped by Earth's magnetic field. Explorer 3 spent 93 days orbiting the Earth before its orbit decayed.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day, in space.
00:04On March 26, 1958, the United States launched its third satellite into space.
00:08Explorer 3 was almost identical to Explorer 1, which was the first
00:12satellite the U.S. ever launched. Explorer 3 launched on a Juno-1 rocket
00:16from Cape Canaveral and entered an eccentric orbit. This means it was following a long
00:20elliptical path around the Earth. Its payload included a cosmic ray counter and
00:24a micrometeorite detector. The data from Explorer 3 and Explorer 1
00:28led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation bow. This is a region around
00:32the Earth where charged particles from the sun get trapped by Earth's magnetic field.
00:36Explorer 3 spent 93 days orbiting the Earth before its orbit decayed.
00:40And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:44Music
00:48Music