This newsreel style, U.S. Army film, made in conjunction with the Jet Propulsion Lab, is titled “X Minus 80 Days”. It details the 80 days preceding the launching of the IGY Satellite 1958 Alpha which was the “free world’s” first Earth satellite. After many design and planning meetings between the US Army, scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology, and the United States Army Ballistic Missile Agency the satellite was officially launched from Cape Canaveral on January 31st. The film’s story is by Irl E. Newland and Norman E. White and produced by Raphael S. Wolf Studios, Inc. Hollywood. The film also features Philip Callahan as executive producer and Jack Taylor as editor.

United States of America War Office U.S. Army seal (0:07). Animation of shooting star and title page (0:13). Car pulls up to a security gate and checks-in with an officer (0:29). Opening credits and voice over beings (0:38). Army officials meet with engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology announcing army participation in the International Geophysical Year satellite program by using Jupiter-C missile (1:03). Major General Medaris, commanding general of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, at a meeting with Dr. Wernher von Braun, director of ABMA development operation, and JPL scientists about using rockets to launch satellites (2:00). Clips of planning conferences in Washington D.C., Huntsville, Alabama and Pasadena, California (2:25). Dr. WH Pickering, director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, makes an announcement (2:37). Flight test of the first Jupiter-C that demonstrated a new radio receiving technique called micro lock (3:06). Footage from subsequent tests of the Jupiter-C specifically of the nose cone (3:53). Presentation of developments (4:15). Final design changes on the missile at headquarters of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (4:52). Full-scale static motor tests (5:26). Cooper Development Corporation and JPL fabricating and loading rocket motors (5:44). Manufacture of structure that supports the last stage rocket (6:33). Rocket motor case and supporting structures assembled (6:44). Close-up and explanation of the transmitter that acted as voice of the 1958 Alpha (7:02). Radio receiving equipment built in Monrovia, California (8:17). Explanation of the Cosmic Ray Experiment by Dr. James A. Van Allen of State University of Iowa and the Micro-Meteorite experiment of Air Force Cambridge Research Center contributions to development of the satellite (8:50-9:49). Assembled Explorer Satellite with breakdown of structure (9:57). Test of rocket motors (11:09). Transmitter being tested in simulated missile environment (11:44). Trucks transporting various parts to the launch location (12:04). Rocket’s journey from ABMA lab to launch site (12:42). Cape Canaveral (13:01). Stages of assembly (13:12). Arrival of first stage rocket (13:48). Other parts arrive to be attached (14:37). Explorer ready for launching but weather causes delays (14:47). Installation of batteries, final checks of transmitters, and fuel pumped (15:50). Liquid oxygen loading (16:29). Radio interference tests (17:19). Final preparations for launch (17:47). Launch (20:07).

Explorer was the first satellite of the United States, following the first two satellites the previous year; the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1 and 2, beginning the Cold War Space Race between the two nations.

Explorer 1 was launched on January 31, 1958 at 22:48 Eastern Time atop the first Juno booster from LC-26 at the Cape Canaveral Missile Annex, Florida. It was the first spacecraft to detect the Van Allen radiation belt, returning data until its batteries were exhausted after nearly four months. It remained in orbit until 1970, and has been followed by more than 90 scientific spacecraft in the Explorer series.

The Juno I was a four-stage American space launch vehicle, used to launch lightweight payloads into low Earth orbit. The launch vehicle was used between January 1958 to December 1959. The launch vehicle was a member of the Redstone launch vehicle family, and was derived from the Jupiter-C sounding rocket. It is commonly confused with the Juno II launch vehicle, which was derived from the PGM-19 Jupiter medium-range ballistic missile. In 1958, a Juno I launch vehicle was used to launch America’s first satellite, Explorer 1.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com