The birth of space science

TThe birth of space science oday’s Video of the Day comes from NASA and features a look at the historic day that many consider to be the birth of space science.

On January 31st, 1958, the United States successfully launched the Explorer 1 satellite, marking their official entry into the space race and leveling the playing field with the Soviet Union.

Explorer 1 marked the first time humans sent scientific instruments into space to collect data and relay it back to Earth, opening up entirely new fields of science.

To unravel the birth and early evolution of stars and planets, we need to be able to peer into the hearts of dense and dusty cloud cores where star formation begins. These regions cannot be observed at visible light wavelengths as the dust would make such regions opaque and must be observed at infrared wavelengths. Fifty years ago, however the agency that pushed the frontiers of aeronautics, took us to the moon, flew the space shuttle, built the International Space Station and revealed the secrets of the cosmos, was in its birth throes, and fundamental decisions were being made that profoundly shaped all that was to come.

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By Rory Arnold, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: NASA