The countdown was perfect. Up from the launch pad of Cape Canaveral at 10:23 one morning last week roared a 90-ft., 52½-ton Thor-Able rocket, lifting cleanly into an overcast sky with steadily increasing acceleration. Two minutes and 40 seconds later the second stage fired smoothly, then the third. Out from the sides of the globular pay load unfolded four strange paddles. As the "paddlewheel satellite" tumbled through space at 171 revolutions per minute, 8,000 solar cells in the 20-inch-square vanes picked up the sun's energy to charge the chemical batteries, send messages...
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