U.S. VANGUARD SATELLITE

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28551, 2 April 1958, Page 18

U.S. VANGUARD SATELLITE

First Full-Size :Launching “Soon” (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) WASHINGTON. March 30. Dr. John P. Hagen, director of the United States’ Vanguard project, said today that the launching of the first full-size Vanguard satellite was “not too many weeks away.” Dr. Hagen also said he did not believe that Russia was ahead of the United States in the scientific field. In satellite development, he said, “we are going along pretty much even-steven.” The scientist, in a televised interview, said that the first fullsize 20in Vanguard satellite would be sent aloft “fairly soon.” Dr. Hagen said seven or eight more attempts to launch fullsize Vanguard spheres would be made before the International Geophysical Year ended on December 31. A fairly large number of Vanguards might be orbiting by • the end of the year. A satellite would be sent in an orbit around the moon “in the not too distant future” and a rocket would be fired to the moon within a year or two. He said the experience and confidence gained from the Vanguard project indicated that a satellite around the moon was not too much of a giant step forward.