12-18-1958 First Communication Satellite
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Electrical Engineering History of Science and Technology Information Systems Information Technology |
| Special Topic(s): | |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Community - Blog |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
Michael Smith |
| Description: | Engineering Pathway's "Events in History" blog for December 18. Excerpt: "Today in History - December 18, 1958 - SCORE (Signal Communication by Orbital Relay Equipment) was the world's first communications satellite to be put into orbit. As the first American satellite to relay communications from one ground station to another, SCORE used a tape recorder to store and forward voice messages. It was used to send a Christmas greeting via short wave frequency to the world from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The SCORE satellite was designed and built by Kenneth Masterman-Smith, a military communication research engineer, along with other personnel with the U.S. Army Signal Research and Development Laboratory (SRDL) at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Launched in an Atlas rocket, SCORE provided a first test of a communications relay system in space. The technical objectives were to demonstrate the capabilities of satellite launch from an Atlas missile and the feasibility of transmitting messages through the upper atmosphere from one ground station to one or more ground stations. Score placed the United States at an even technological par with the Soviet Union as a highly functional response to the Sputnik satellites. The payload weighed 150 pounds, and was built into the fairing pods of the 9000 pound Atlas missile. Any of four ground stations in the southern United States could command the satellite into playback mode to transmit the stored message or into record mode to receive and store a new message. Its batteries lasted 12 days and it reentered the atmosphere on 21 January 1959." |
| Rating: |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | satellites telecommunications |
| Is Component of: |
"Today in History" Blog of the Engineering Pathway Digital Library |
| Usage Tip | |
| Use of Resource: |
Events in history can be used to connect modern technology to its roots in history. |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Interactivity Level: |
Low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | December 2008 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://www.k-grayengineeringeducation.com/blog/index.php/2011/12/ |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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