Space Video of the Day - 090131

January 31st is a big day in the history of spaceflight: the 1958 launch of Explorer 1 and the discovery of the Van Allen belts, the Mercury-Redstone 2 launch with Ham the Chimp aboard in 1961, the launch of Luna 9 in 1966, and the launch of Apollo 14 in 1971 all took place on the last day in January. Today's space video of the day looks at the first of these anniversaries, the launch of Explorer 1, America's first orbital rocket, three months after Sputnik.


Space Video of the Day Archive