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The next few days sees the 50th anniversary of the start of the cold war space race. Half a century ago the Russians launched the opening salvo with the successful launch of Sputnik. In response to the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the U.S. built Explorer 1 in 84 days, launching it on January 31, 1958. Before work was completed, however, the Soviet Union launched a second satellite, Sputnik 2, on November 3, 1957. On March 17, 1958, Vanguard 1 was successfully placed in Earth orbit by the United States. It was the first solar-powered satellite and was a mere 152 mm in diameter, weighing just 1.4 kg. Vanguard 1 is the oldest artificial object still in space. Vanguard's predecessors, Sputnik 1, Sputnik 2 and Explorer 1 have long since fallen out of orbit.

Credit: NASA/JPL.