Explorer 1’s First Journey

George Ludwig, a graduate student who worked with physicist James Van Allen at the University of Iowa, is seen here testing the Explorer 1 instruments as the satellite was prepared for launch. When the call came to get the materials ready for Explorer 1, Van Allen was conducting experiments in the Antarctic. So Ludwig packed what would become the first U.S. satellite instrument into his car ―along with his pregnant wife and two young children ― and drove the components to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California as quickly as possible. The team had only 90 days to prepare for launch.