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January 29, 2008 (916) 319-2044

 

Resolution Honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Launch of Explorer 1 Passes State Assembly

House Resolution 24 highlights the remarkable work done by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to make Explorer 1 a reality

 

SACRAMENTO, CA -- Assemblymember Portantino (D – La Cañada Flintridge) today won support of his HR 24, a resolution which recognizes the 50th anniversary of the launch of Explorer 1, with unanimous support from the State Assembly.

 

“Great advancements in science and technology, our understanding of space and our solar system all began 50 years ago on January 31, 1958 with the launch of Explorer 1,” said Portantino. “History will likely view this pioneering flight through the solar system as one of the most remarkable achievements of the 20th century. As the Assemblymember representing JPL, it is quite an honor to bring this resolution forward before the Assembly as a testament to the importance of this event.

 

Fifty years ago, the Explorer 1 satellite launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a Jupiter-C rocket. Although tiny by today’s spacecraft standards, Explorer 1 sprang skyward, carrying with it the enormous hopes and dreams of a Cold War America, a country still reeling from the failure of its first Vanguard project the month before and the former Soviet Union’s shocking launches of Sputnik 1 and 2. Following the Soviet space launch, JPL was tasked with designing, building, and operation of a satellite that would be completed in less than three months.

 

HR 24 highlights the impact Explorer 1 had on the facility in which it was built, reading “Although Explorer 1 is gone, its impact on JPL was permanent. Never again would JPL be an obscure army facility laboring away on classified projects. Explorer 1 opened the door to space, and, as a result, JPL would never be the same.”

 

To that end, Assemblymember Portantino and JPL hosted state legislators in October 2007 for a tour and briefing on future space projects and global climate change and its affects on California. The tour was extremely well received, prompting one lawmaker to rise in support of the resolution to excitedly demand that the next visit be complete with “something to shoot up into the air.”

 

Assemblymember Anthony Portantino was elected to serve the 44th Assembly District in November of 2006. The district encompasses Altadena, Duarte, La Canada Flintridge, Pasadena, South Pasadena and Temple City. It also includes portions of Arcadia, Monrovia, Mayflower Village and the Northeast Los Angeles neighborhoods of Glassell Park, Hermon, Highland Park, Mount Washington and Eagle Rock.