Explorer 1 was the United States response on January 31 1958, to the Soviet Union launch of Sputnik the previous October.

Although the satellite was quite a bit smaller in weight than the Sputnik. Explorer 1 was not just an orbiting radio transmitter, it was packed with scientific experiments to learn about the space environment. The Van Allen Radition belts wre one of the most important discoveries to come from Explorer 1. Thus Explorer 1 began a long tradition of scientific space achievement in the U.S. Space Program.

Kit contains: 2 resin parts, styrene tube and wire