Word: telstar
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...ground-based horn and its complicated collection of equipment has unlimited electricity available, but Telstar's operating power comes from its solar cells, which generate only 15 watts-not enough to keep all its apparatus operating all the time. As a result, the satellite's command obeying system, which throws electronic switches in response to coded signals from the earth, is one of its most important features. When circuits are not needed, they can be turned off to conserve power and to give the solar cells a chance to recharge Telstar's storage battery...
Sixth Payoff. Soon after Telstar was launched, NASA's global tracking network reported it on a perfect orbit. At Andover, anxious scientists heard with relief that its telemetering system was working precisely as planned, reporting no trouble at all. But during its first five 158-min. orbits, Telstar did not come within practical line-of-sight distance of the big ear in Maine. The sixth orbit was the payoff. It was 7 p.m. in Maine when the satellite raced toward the U.S. Calculations showed that it would pass close enough to Maine to hear a command...
...remote-control switching system was working properly; Telstar had turned on its relay apparatus and was ready for business. All eyes in the room watched as a vague light flickered on a TV screen. Then, with remarkable clarity, they saw the American flag waving briskly in front of a view of the big ear's fabric sphere. This picture, which also went to viewers across the U.S., had originated in a TV camera just outside the control room. It had jumped to Telstar, then it had come back to earth, amplified 10 billion times...
...back and forth under the ionized layers of the upper atmosphere. They must travel on microwaves, which follow paths as straight as beams of light; getting them past the curve of the earth requires a relay station high enough so that it shows above the horizon from both shores. Telstar served this purpose for a historic few minutes last week while it was sweeping across the Atlantic to Europe...
Bell Telephone, creator of Telstar, favors lower orbits and more of them. Existing rockets, say Bell's men, can lift communications satellites a few thousand miles above the earth, where existing ground apparatus can communicate with them dependably. Telstar, they argue, proved their point last week. But final decision on the kind of satellite to be used will depend on U.S. Government policy and also on foreign governments, which will surely demand voices in any worldwide system of communication. No matter which system is adopted, though, its satellites will be descendants of Bell's granddaddy Telstar...