On Aug. 11, 1960, part of the Discoverer 13 satellite became the first human-made object to be recovered from Earth's orbit.
The United States Department of Defense launched the mission as part of the C.I.A.'s Corona spy satellite program. They wanted to see if they could return a satellite's instrument package to Earth safely and gently enough to retrieve the object intact. The reentry capsule was a big, bowl-shaped hunk of metal that weighed about 120 pounds and contained only an American flag. After deploying a heat shield and parachute, the capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. A Navy helicopter pulled it out of the water and airlifted it to a ship, which brought it back to Pearl Harbor.
The United States Department of Defense launched the mission as part of the C.I.A.'s Corona spy satellite program. They wanted to see if they could return a satellite's instrument package to Earth safely and gently enough to retrieve the object intact. The reentry capsule was a big, bowl-shaped hunk of metal that weighed about 120 pounds and contained only an American flag. After deploying a heat shield and parachute, the capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. A Navy helicopter pulled it out of the water and airlifted it to a ship, which brought it back to Pearl Harbor.
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00:00On this day in space.
00:03In 1960, part of the Discoverer 13 satellite
00:06became the first human-made object to be recovered from Earth's orbit.
00:09The United States Department of Defense launched the mission
00:12as part of the CIA's Corona Spy Satellite Program.
00:15They wanted to see if they could return the satellite's instrument package
00:18to Earth safely and gently enough to retrieve the object intact.
00:21The reentry capsule was a big, bowl-shaped hunk of metal
00:24that weighed about 120 pounds and contained only an American flag.
00:28After deploying a heat shield and parachute,
00:31the capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
00:34A Navy helicopter pulled it out of the water and airlifted it to a ship,
00:37which brought it back to Pearl Harbor.
00:39And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:42♪