Word: minitrack
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...Minitrack. Last week at Blossom Point, Md., about 40 miles south of Washington, the Naval Research Laboratory showed how the satellite's feeble radio signals will be picked up. Nine enormous antennas scattered over a 25-acre field waited for whispers of energy from the sky. The satellite's role was played by a Navy airplane flying at 15,000 ft. and carrying the 13-oz. Minitrack radio transmitter that the real satellite will carry, its power suitably reduced to make up for the difference in altitude...
...signal came in strong, was amplified by a trailerful of electronic apparatus (made for the purpose by Bendix Aviation Corp.), and recorded on a chart. When the first real satellite takes to space, ten Minitrack receiving stations will be ready in the U.S., Cuba, Antigua, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Australia. Their information about the satellite's motion will be flashed electronically to Washington, where past orbits will be charted and future orbits predicted by computer...
...plumber's-helper satellite (cost: $2.50) was so successful that 100 of them are being assembled by the Air Force and Navy for use by Moonwatch teams across the country. Like the elaborate Minitrack stations, the teams will prepare for the day when the satellite is wheeling through space and any shred of news about it will be important...