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Forrest M. Mims III
Fifty years ago month scientists from some 67 countries around the world began one of the most remarkable collaborations in history. Their objective was an in-depth study of Earth's ice caps, oceans and atmosphere using a wide variety of old and new methods.
The global study was called the International Geophysical Year (IGY). It began in July 1957 and was planned to last 18 months. The IGY was so successful that it was extended another full year.
All of us have been influenced in some way by discoveries and achievements made during the IGY, the best known of which were the first artificial Earth satellites.
The US hoped to be first in space with a civilian missile called the Vanguard, but the Soviet Union surprised the world on October 4, 1957, by launching Sputnik I, the first earth satellite. A month later, the Soviet Union launched a living dog into orbit aboard the half-ton Sputnik II.
The first Vanguard launch by the US failed spectacularly on December 6, 1957, when the missile rose only a few feet before exploding in a huge ball of orange flame. Spectacular photos of the failed launch were featured in Life magazine.
The US finally succeeded in launching a satellite when a modified us Army Jupiter rocket called the Juno placed the 30-pound Explorer I into orbit.
Though the Explorer I didn't carry a living dog into orbit, it was equipped with a Geiger counter. This allowed the satellite to discover a region of radiation that surrounds the Earth. It was named the Van Allen radiation belt after the scientist in charge of the Geiger counter project.
The space race triggered by the IGY led to major improvements in US science education and inspired many students (including me) to pursue careers in science.
While space was the big news during the IGY, major discoveries were made in many other fields. Scientists determined the amount of ice in Antarctica, detected cosmic rays from outer space and studied the aurora (northern and southern lights). They investigated gravity, earthquakes and the oceans. They developed improved methods for forecasting the weather.
The world's longest series of measurements of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were begun at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) during the IGY. The world's longest record of sunlight transmission through the atmosphere was also begun at MLO.
The ozone layer blocks the most dangerous ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun, and a major IGY program was to measure the ozone layer. Figure 1 is a fisheye photo I made inside a dome at MLO that houses an instrument that measures the ozone layer. The dome replaced a wood shed in the early 1970s. Look at the sun through the slot in the dome and you will see the same view the ozone instrument has had of the sun over Hawaii for the past 50 years!
For more about the IGY, see the links at this NASA web site.
What do you think? Please send your comments to Backscatter. Or begin a discussion about this on the SAS Community Forum. See you there. 
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