On July 10, 1962, NASA launched Telstar I, the satellite that enabled the first live transmission of television images between the United States and Europe. During the Cold War years, the shock caused by the successful launch of Sputnik by the Soviets increased US interest in the development of aerospace research.
Shortly after the launch of what would become known as Earth’s first artificial satellite, in 1957, the Americans began their attempts with communications satellites. These circled the planet in elliptical or circular orbits and were intended to improve telecommunications services such as telephones, radio and television.
The first satellite that the United States put into space efficiently was called Score and was launched in December 1958. Through it, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent a Christmas message to the entire world. But Score was only a few months in space. Its huge surface and very close orbit to Earth caused it to catch fire after just 500 times around the planet.
First intercontinental program
The idea of transmitting information via satellites was old. As early as October 1945, mathematician and visionary Arthur C. Clarke published an article on the subject in the specialized magazine Wireless World. His idea was to take advantage of the immensity of space for the transmission of information, based on a system of satellites used as support.
The idea became reality on July 10, 1962, when the rocket with the first commercial satellite for transmissions, Telstar I, departed from the Cape Canaveral launch base in Florida. and weighed 77 pounds.
Its energy was produced by 3,600 solar cells. Thirteen days after the launch, the first live broadcast of a television program between the United States and Europe took place.
Germany was one of the countries that participated in the broadcasts, with live footage showing workers at a blast furnace in the industrial area of Duisburg, in western Germany. From a quality point of view, the images were extremely primitive by today’s parameters.
limited broadcast time
The live images of Manhattan and the San Francisco Bridge were also shaky on the television, but at least they gave the sensational impression of watching an event on the other side of the world.
The quality of images transmitted between the two continents in 1962 was light years away from today. In addition, the transmission time was restricted to 30 minutes, due to the low orbit of the satellite.
From the prototype, thousands of satellites have been launched into Earth orbit since the 1960s, most of them for military and scientific purposes.
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