\<COLOUR 1> SATELLITE: \<COLOUR 0> Explorer 38/RAE 1
\<COLOUR 1> TYPE: \<COLOUR 0> Astronomy
\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH DATE: \<COLOUR 0> July 4, 1968
\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH SITE: \<COLOUR 0> Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH VEHICLE: \<COLOUR 0> Delta
\<COLOUR 1> ORBIT: \<COLOUR 0> 636/5,878 km
\<COLOUR 1> SIZE: \<COLOUR 0> Cylinder, 80 cm long, 90 cm diameter X-shaped antennas measuring 450 metres tip to tip
\<COLOUR 1> WEIGHT: \<COLOUR 0> 190 kg
\<COLOUR 1> COUNTRY: \<COLOUR 0> USA
\<COLOUR 1> COMMENTS: \<COLOUR 0> Radio astronomy explorer (RAE) 1, the longest satellite ever launched, whose X-shaped antenna array is tuned to pick up radio waves from the heavens; the identical Explorer 49/RAE 2, launched on June 10, 1973, is manoeuvred into lunar orbit to observe without radio interference from Earth.