Explorer 1: Celebrating 60 Years in Space

Less than a lifetime ago, humankind just barely left the limits of Earth's atmosphere. Who could have imagined that only 60 years later we would be touching the surface of the Sun, arriving at the most distant object humans have ever explored, and soon to be launching the world's most powerful telescope to get a glimpse of the first galaxies born after the Big Bang? As NASA celebrates the 60th Anniversary of Explorer 1, the satellite that blazed the way for hundreds of missions to follow, some of the most ambitions explorations are yet to come.

Music credi: Stardust Circles by July Tourret

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/LK Ward

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