1964: Explorer 9 reentered the atmosphere and disintegrated after some three years in space. This 12-foot balloon was NASA’s most effective satellite for measuring atmospheric density and temperature. Orbited on 16 February 1959, it traveled more than 340 million miles and 14,000 orbits of earth. It was also the first satellite orbited by a solid-fuel launch vehicle, the Scout, and the first successfully launched from Wallops Island.
