Explorer 1

Explorer 1 model held aloft in Washington, February 1, 1958 Hours after the first American satellite reached orbit, William Pickering, James Van Allen and Wernher von Braun hoisted a model of it over their heads at a press conference at the National Academy of Sciences. Pickering's Jet Propulsion Laboratory built the satellite, Van Allen designed its science instrument and von Braun's Army team built the rocket. That instrument picked up the first signs of the radiation belts that now carry Van Allen's name.