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Station Data Tapes

The links below contain .zip files of the complete surviving audio data captured by globally-distributed tracking stations during the orbits of Explorer I. The data has been arranged by the location of the tracking station that captured it, following the arrangement and numbering of the original reel-to-reel tapes.

To Interpret the Data Tapes

  1. Explorer I Ephemeris (machine readable version COMING SOON)
  2. Master Data Recording Log Explorers 1 and 3
  3. Van Allen, James, Ludwig, Geroge.
    Data User' Note: Explorer 1 (1958 Alpha 1) Cosmic-ray Experiement    . National Space Sciene Data Center, 1967.
      4. SAO Special Reports - Orbital Elements
    1. February 6, 1958 (five days after launching), until April 30, 1960
      Zadunaisky, Pedra.The Orbit of Satellite 1958 Alpha During the First 10500 Revolutions. SAO Special Report #50, 1960
    2. July and August 1959
      Mechau, D.V.; Miller, B.Satellite Orbital Data 1958 Alpha. SAO Special Report #40R, 1960

Supplemental Resources

  1. Bostrom, Carl O.; Ludwig, George.
    Instrumentation for space physics. Physics Today. API Publishing, 1966.
  2. Fleming, James Rodger.
    Iowa Enters the Space Age: James Van Allen, Earth's Radiation Belts, and Experiements to Disrupt Them. State Historical Society of Iowa, 2011
  3. Foerstner, Abigail.
    James Van Allen: The First Eight Billion Miles. University of Iowa Press 2007
      4. Video Interviews
    1. Dan Baker 2014
    2. Don Gurnett 2014
    3. Craig Kletzing 2014
  4. Interview with Annabell Huddmon April 1, 2010. UI Archives’ Oral History Collection, no. RG 01.0006.001
  5. James Van Allen Digital Collection in the University of Iowa's Digital Library
  6. Ludwig, George.
    Opening Space Research: Dreams, Technology, and Scientific Discovery GeoPress 2011
  7. James van Allen: Flights of Discovery. UI TV
  8. NASA Sounds from Historic Spacesfights and Current Missions
  9. Space Audio. University of Iowa, 2013.
  10. Tell Me Your Story. Iowa City Public Library program with Dr. James Van Allen
  11. Voyager One Enters Interstellar Space
  12. What is the Common Data Format?