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Discoverer 2 launched in Polar Orbit...
Discoverer 2 launched in Polar Orbit...
Item # 714265
April 14, 1959
THE NEW YORK TIMES, April 14, 1959
* Rocket launch of Discoverer 2 into orbit
* Optical reconnaissance spy satellite
The top of the front page has a two column headline: "DISCOVERER SHOT INTO POLAR ORBIT; RECOVERY IS AIM" with subheads and related photo. (see images)
Complete with 70 pages, light toning and a little wear at the margins, generally nice.
wikipedia notes: Discoverer 2 was the first satellite to be stabilized in orbit in all three axes and to be maneuvered on command from the earth. Though it carried no film and thus conducted no surveillance, Discoverer 2 was both the first satellite equipped with a reentry capsule and the first to return a payload from orbit. A timing error caused the reentry capsule to land near the island of Spitzbergen, Norway, rather than Hawaii. A joint US-Norway recovery operation was mounted, but was unsuccessful, and there was fear that the capsule ended in the possession of the Soviet Union. Such claims have never been verified. The flight and loss of Discoverer 2 was the inspiration for the book and film Ice Station Zebra.
Category: The 20th Century
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