Why NASA's First Spaceflight Isn't What Most People Think

The US was launching satellites in the space race for months before NASA existed, when NASA was formally created it inherited an ambitious launch from the Air Force, aimed at taking a spacecraft around the moon. This was ambitious, and ultimately the mission fell short of this lofty goal, but, it still set an altitude record for a satellite before falling back to the Earth.
The spacecraft eventually got the name 'Pioneer 1', and was the first spaceflight in a series of spacecraft which would eventually become the first to leave the solar system.

[cster]

On September 30th, 1958 my grandpa was working at a facility in Huntsville, Alabama when that evening his boss drove around knocking on everyone's door telling them "Tomorrow you work for NASA or you don't work for anyone." Needless to say he worked for NASA the next day. Retired in '85.

[waterrocketlab]

16 days until the 60th anniversary of the first manned Spaceflight

[chrischeshire]

In 1960, I was 8 years old, I remember reading in the L.A. Times newspaper when they printed the time to watch the NASA Echo 1 pass over head. My family went out in the back yard and we all saw it. A 100 foot diameter Ballon satellite used to reflect radio waves. That was the beginning for me following the space program.

[goldenstars]

Thanks, I grew up in the 1950's and followed the space race with every launch. I remember well all these launch's and remember exactly were I was when the first Thor Able lunar attempted exploded 77 seconds into the flight. I was on my Sunday paper route and my dad was driving me on it this day and I heard it on the radio. Boy have we come a long way.

[jasonstone]

really enjoy the earliest bits of history as my grandpa worked on the Mercury and Gemini command modules. The history of the earliest rockets by other countries is also very interesting. Always waiting for your newest video. Thank you!

[FarrellMcGovern]

You should do a story on Alouette 1, the Canadian satellite that was the first sat that was not built by either the USSR or the USA to be successfully launched and orbited.

[TLN-qurq]

Who else has been watching since Scott had started making KSP videos?

I've nearly lost count of how many years I've watched this channel.

[danapeck]

Dr. Van Allen, who built satellites in the basement of the Physics Building and had built Explorer's Geiger counter, always said unmanned exploration was best for data collection.

[ghaznavid]

I'm a simple person - I see a Scott Manley video, I grab some popcorn. Ok, popcorn ready, time to watch :)

[plainswell]

Excellent stuff, Scott. It is really fascinating to hear a more detailed description of what goes on in a mission than the one dimensional reports usually found in the media. Your blood is worth bottling mate, keep it up!

[YassinElMohtadi]

0:44 that middle dude is like " Do you guys really need to lift it this high ?"

[TraderDan]

Come on Scott. You can't leave us hanging. Now you have to do a video on how Thor transformed into Delta

[winstonsmith]

What was the Thor & Atlas turbopump problem? Never mind, I looked it up: "suffered from foaming turbopump lubricating oil at high altitudes and bearing retention issues."

[Blaze]

Scott: UDMH
My fellow space nerds: Ah yes Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine

[Andysalive]

It's a great historic irony that Eisenhower who got such massive criticism over his (lack of) space politics, founded the now legendary Nasa, which has become
synonymous with space and spaceflight.

[nihongobenkyoshimasu]

9:40 If Luna would have been able to pass Pioneer 4 on the way to the moon, this would have been an interesting event ...

[matyasnovak]

I always forget to fly safe but he's there to remind me

[flubhub]

This is a nice bit of history. However, I'm a geezer who worked for NASA in the mid-1970s with many people who had worked for the NACA before NASA was formed. As they repeatedly informed me, N. A. C. A. is to be pronounced as a series of letters, i.e. "the N A C A" (like "the FBI"). I worked at Langley Research Center, which was an NACA center for 41 years (1917 to 1958) before becoming a NASA center.

[garyheaton]

There’s a NACA developed idea in wide use today. The NACA duct is widely used on cars to direct air.

[RWBHere]

Pioneer 1 is definitely not forgotten. Thanks Scott, for keeping the information alive.
Many people don't know that the first country to launch a rocket into space was neither Russia nor the USA. Several German V2 rockets achieved that milestone, and at least one carried cameras.
Many others don't know that the first living things to be sent around the Moon and recovered successfully were two Russian Steppe tortoises, along with mealworms, insects, bacteria and some seeds. They were carried in Зонд 4 (Zond 4, or Probe 4), which was launched on 4th September, 1968, more than 3 months before Apollo 8. The probe also carried a full size dummy human, which was equipped with sensors to detect radiation, temperature, acceleration, etc.