Although the symbol or badge of the
International Geophysical Year (on letterheads, etc.) was a satellite orbiting the Earth (Fig.
launched the 1957-1958
International Geophysical Year and the International
The mountains were discovered by a Soviet team during the
International Geophysical Year in 1957-8.
The International Polar Year 2007-09 took place on the jubilee of the 1957-58
International Geophysical Year (IGY).
Dedicated to civilian space exploration, the new agency absorbed the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the heritage of both the Rocket and Satellite Research Panel and US initiatives for the
International Geophysical Year. It consolidated the country's post-World War II experimentation with ballistic missiles, sounding rockets, and two fledgling satellite programs.
In 1957, the
International Geophysical Year stimulated the development of American satellite technology to map the Earth's surface and also witnessed the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik I, the first satellite.
For the United States the objective appeared to be more diffuse, with a primary goal of getting a satellite up to correspond with the
International Geophysical Year (July 1957 to December 1958); being first was not as critical.
The published text states: "Overflights were assumed away as the United States and the Soviet Union launched scientific satellites to mark the
International Geophysical Year in 1957." Because satellites clearly pass over the territory of other nations, one cannot disregard them.
In the early 1950s, Berkner proposed an international research program that was to become the
International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958-a massive undertaking of international scientific cooperation on a global scale.
The Churchill Research Range was born out of an international endeavour in geophysical research called
International Geophysical Year. IGY, in turn, developed out of a long history of scientific interest in the terrestrial and atmospheric properties of the polar regions.
In my recollection -- as research officer and speechwriter for Walter Nash from 1952 to 1959 -- political, press or public interest in Antarctica was spasmodic until late in that decade: the US Operation Deep Freeze project set up in Christchurch in 1955, Hillary's dash to the Pole in January 1958, the
International Geophysical Year in 1959 and final negotiations for the Antarctic Treaty itself in 1958-59.
MacDowall uses his diaries from the time, to describe the expedition, which was set up by the Royal Society of London as a contribution to the
International Geophysical Year, 1957-8.