Mark Schuler (American, B. 1951) "First Man-Made Satellite 1957" Signed lower left. Original Mixed Media painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This artwork was originally published on the Republic of the Marshall Islands 45c First Man-Made Satellite stamp issued November 24, 1989. By the early 1950s, rockets were widely employed in studying the upper atmosphere. Scientists realized, however, that artificial satellites could perform the same duties much more efficiently. On July 29, 1955, President Eisenhower announced that the United States planned to launch "small unmanned earth-circling satellites." On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union became the world's first nation to successfully launch an artificial satellite --Sputnik 1. On January 31, 1958, the U.S. launched Explorer 1, the first American space satellite. Explorer 1 discovered Earth was surrounded by ionized particles of energy. On March 17, 1958, the U.S. orbited Vanguard I, which demonstrated that Earth is almost imperceptibly pear-shaped with a slight bulge in the Southern Hemisphere. On October 1, 1958, the U.S. established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to manage the country's fledgling space program. On February 17, 1959, NASA launched Vanguard II, which was designed to provide information about Earth's cloud cover. Vanguard III followed several months later and was used to map Earth's magnetic field. The birth of the Space Age provided mankind with new insights into the mysterious universe and our place in it. Image Size: 12 x 12 in. Overall Size: 20 x 20 in. Unframed. (B12235)