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| Jupiter Missile / Juno
Missile |
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Juno 1 |
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Jupiter C (Juno 1) rocket
launched the first American satellite Explorer. The rocket was originally developed to
serve as the Redstone missile's warhead. Werner von Braun proposed at an early date that
these rockets be used to launch satellites, but the Department of Defense opposed the
idea. However, on Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite and the
Department of Defense ordered von Braun to launch a satellite as soon as possible. A
fourth stage was added to the Jupiter C rockets and their names changed to Juno 1. On Jan.
31, 1958, the rockets carried Explorer 1, the first
American satellite, into space.
Juno I was developed by the U.S. Army
Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) and operated by the U.S. army. First and last launch
in 1958.
Juno II did not supersede Juno I, but was a revamped
version of the inter- mediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) Jupiter that had been adapted
to allow it to fly into space. Jupiter was developed under the leadership of Werner von
Braun at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency on Huntsville Army Base in Alabama and was
ready for use by 1960. Juno II first launched a lunar probe in December 1958 but was
unable to propel Pioneer 3 far enough for it to reach the Moon. On the following Pioneer 4
flight it also failed to propel the spacecraft into orbit and failed on its third and
fourth launches as well. Finally, its fifth flight was a success in October 1959 when it
lifted an Explorer 7 satellite into orbit. |
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Juno 2 |
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