{"id":452,"date":"2022-04-06T21:51:42","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T21:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/gallery\/?p=452"},"modified":"2022-04-28T14:49:59","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T14:49:59","slug":"success-george-ludwig-and-the-explorer-i-satellite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/gallery\/2022\/04\/06\/success-george-ludwig-and-the-explorer-i-satellite\/","title":{"rendered":"“Success!!” George Ludwig and the Explorer I Satellite"},"content":{"rendered":"

The current Main Library Gallery exhibit, We Are Hawkeyes: Celebrating 175 Years of Student Life at the University of Iowa<\/em>, provides a glimpse into many facets of campus life over the decades. Part of the exhibition focuses on the scholarly achievements of Iowa students. An ordinary-looking composition notebook sits in one display case, open to a handwritten journal entry from 3:30 a.m. on February 1, 1958: “Success!! The first U.S. satellite is in orbit. It looks like a good one,” wrote graduate student George Ludwig, who had been working with Professor James Van Allen and his team to build the Explorer I satellite. The journal is part of the George H. Ludwig Papers<\/a> [RG99.0004] in the University Archives.<\/p>\n

In this short video, University Archivist Emeritus David McCartney provides more in-depth information about Mr. Ludwig’s journal and the Space Race. <\/strong>The launch of the satellite “was an absolutely magical moment for the U.S. space industry and, of course, for young George Ludwig,” said McCartney. <\/p>\n