Why in News
On March 17, 1958, the U.S. launched the Vanguard 1 satellite.
The first to be solar powered satellite.
Still going around the Earth more than 65 years later, Vanguard 1 is now the oldest human-made object still in orbit.
Beyond the reach of our eyes lies more than 23,000 or so catalogued objects currently in orbit around the Earth.
While more than 2,000 of these are active satellites, the rest could be anything from spacecraft and satellites, to even rocket stages that have been discarded and hardware that is now fragmented.
Why in News
Vanguard 1 was an American satellite that launched on March 17, 1958.
It was the fourth artificial Earth-orbiting satellite but the oldest human-made object still in orbit today.
Launch Site: Launch Complex 18, Cape Canaveral, Florida
Manufacturer: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Dimensions: 1.52 cm (6.0 in) in diameter, with a 3.0 ft (0.91 m) antenna span
Weight: 1.47 kg (3.25 lb)
Power Source: Six silicon solar cells, the first ever used on a satellite
Mission:
Test the capabilities of a three-stage launch vehicle
Study the effects of the space environment on a satellite
Obtain geodetic measurements through orbit analysis
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