On this day in space: Feb. 28, 1959: Discoverer 1 spy satellite goes missing after launch

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On Feb. 28, 1959, the U.S. Air Force launched a new spy satellite prototype called Discoverer 1.

On Feb. 28, 1959, the U.S. Air Force launched a new spy satellite prototype called Discoverer 1. This was the first satellite that NASA launched toward the South Pole in an attempt to put it in a polar orbit. But the mission didn't go entirely according to plan.

The Discoverer 1 spy satellite and its rocket second stage are seen suspended in a ring-type cradle in this undated U.S. Air Force photo. The spy satellite launched on Feb. 28, 1959 and was subsequently lost.

The Discoverer 1 spy satellite and its rocket second stage are seen suspended in a ring-type cradle in this undated U.S. Air Force photo. The spy satellite launched on Feb. 28, 1959 and was subsequently lost. (Image credit: U.S. Air Force)

The Air Force had prematurely announced that the satellite had reached orbit, but they had no way of proving it.

In fact, no one had a clue about the whereabouts of Discoverer 1. A CIA report that was declassified in 1995 states that it probably crashed somewhere around the South Pole.

On This Day in Space: See our full 365-day video archive!

Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos. 

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