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80-G-709945: Project Vanguard, September 1957

80-G-709945: Project Vanguard, September 1957. Part of the participation in the International Geophysical Year is a program to launch small un-manned, scientific Earth satellites. Technical phases of the US Earth satellite program were assigned to the Department of Defense, which in turn assigned the job to the Office of Naval Research, Washington, D.C., under the designation: Project Vanguard. Engineers and technicians from the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. and the Martin Company, Baltimore, Maryland, prime contractors are developing the testing of the three-stage satellite launching vehicle. Test vehicles are fired at the Air Force Missile Test Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The scientific Earth satellite program was undertaken at the request of the US National Committee for the IGY, established by the National Academy of Sciences with support of the National Science Foundation. Rigged for pre-launching tests, the vehicle is spotlighted against the Florida night sky at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This, the third Vanguard test vehicle is the final scientific Earth satellite launcher. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
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Caption: 80-G-709945: Project Vanguard, September 1957. Part of the participation in the International Geophysical Year is a program to launch small un-manned, scientific Earth satellites. Technical phases of the US Earth satellite program were assigned to the Department of Defense, which in turn assigned the job to the Office of Naval Research, Washington, D.C., under the designation: Project Vanguard. Engineers and technicians from the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. and the Martin Company, Baltimore, Maryland, prime contractors are developing the testing of the three-stage satellite launching vehicle. Test vehicles are fired at the Air Force Missile Test Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The scientific Earth satellite program was undertaken at the request of the US National Committee for the IGY, established by the National Academy of Sciences with support of the National Science Foundation. Rigged for pre-launching tests, the vehicle is spotlighted against the Florida night sky at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This, the third Vanguard test vehicle is the final scientific Earth satellite launcher. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
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