Satellites - National Air and Space Museum
A satellite is an object that is in orbit around an object in space of a larger size. Things such as the Earth's Moon or Pluto's Charon are natural satellites. Humans have also created artificial satellites—human-made machines and spacecraft in orbit …
What Can You Really See From Space?
Apr 8, 2011 · In reality, satellite imagery is used for "before" and "after" images. These can be used for research purposes and for responses to emergencies. Recently media outlets widely used imagery from the GeoEye-1 satellite to show tsunami devastation in Japan. Sometimes a satellite passes overhead at just the right time to capture a rapid change.
Communications Satellites | National Air and Space Museum
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower used SCORE—the first communication satellite—to broadcast a Christmas message: "Through this unique means I convey to you and all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill toward men everywhere." The SCORE (Signal Communications by Orbital Relay Equipment) satellite operated for 35 days.
Three Ways Satellites Help Us Understand Our Environment
Aug 9, 2022 · A decade later, satellite imagery revealed a huge, depleted area of the ozone layer over Antarctica. This confirmed scientists' theory and provided startling evidence of human impact on a global scale. In 1987, production of these hazardous gases was banned by a unanimous United Nations treaty.
Communications Satellite, Telstar - National Air and Space Museum
The United States chose government direction and created two new institutions, COMSAT and INTELSAT, to develop satellite communcations, an arrangement that lasted for more than two decades. This Telstar is a backup spacecraft to Telstar 1 and 2 (launched respectively in 1962 and 1963), transferred from the National Museum of American History to ...
Communications Satellite, Relay 1 - National Air and Space Museum
The satellite relayed signals between North America and Europe and between North and South America, and it also monitored the effects of radiation on its electronics. In conjunction with the Syncom 3 communications satellite, Relay 1 transmitted television coverage of the 1964 Olympics in Japan. This prototype of Relay 1 is covered with solar ...
Applications Satellites | National Air and Space Museum
In the tense years of the Cold War, applications satellites evolved down two separate paths: one devoted to national security needs, the other to civilian interests.
Ariel 1 Satellite | National Air and Space Museum
This is a replica of Ariel-1 satellite, the world's first internationally conceived and executed satellite. The flight model was designed and built by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and carried six British experiments designed to study the ionosphere and its relationship to solar radiation, including cosmic ray, solar emission and ...
Telstar and the World of 1962 | National Air and Space Museum
Jul 23, 2012 · Last week, the Museum recognized the 50th anniversary of Telstar, the first “active” satellite (one that can receive a radio signal from a ground station and then immediately re-transmit it to another) and the first technology of any kind that enabled transatlantic television transmissions. In 1962, both accomplishments generated intense interest, excitement, and …
Corona Spy Satellite Camera in Space Race
Photos taken by Corona spy satellites were returned to Earth in nose cone capsules like this one, which was recovered from orbit in May 1972 during the final Corona mission.