Word: syncom
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...kind of communications satellite, Syncom II, built by Hughes Aircraft Co. for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, soared up into space last week from Cape Canaveral. Instead of going into orbit not far above the earth, like famed Telstar I, it kept on climbing and climbing. When it touched an altitude of some 22,500 miles, a small rocket fired and pushed it into an almost circular orbit...
Three for the Globe. Like the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass, the orbiting Syncom II keeps moving but gets nowhere. At its extreme height Syncom takes 24 hours to complete one orbit. Since this is the period of the earth's rotation, it stays above the same point on the earth below. This "synchronous" orbit*-whence comes the name Syncom-has important advantages. Riding high, the satellite can relay messages by line-of-sight radio to more than one-third of the earth's surface. Three satellites like it, properly spaced, can cover all the inhabited...
...Syncom I was lost five hours after its Feb. 14 launching from Cape Canaveral, when it suddenly stopped emitting signals. The satellite was designed to test the feasibility of controlling communication satellites in 24-hour orbits...
...next task is to determine the definitive orbit for Syncom I," Menzel said. "The satellite may be repairable, but that will be a job for NASA technicians...
...Syncom I is orbiting at an average height of 22,000 miles. At this height its brightness is of the 17th magnitude, or 25,000 times fainter than the dimmest object that can be seen by the naked...