{"id":7587,"date":"2026-10-08T16:15:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T20:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/?p=7587"},"modified":"2026-10-08T16:15:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T20:15:37","slug":"new-for-2026-awakening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/?p=7587","title":{"rendered":"New for 2026, Awakening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A song from my 3rd album, Charm, with new vocals by Ross Smythe and Sax by @fizbahn. A salute to 1962 and Telstar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gU6i10C_5bk?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.baselines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/all-songs\/mp3\/Awakening_2027 .mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Telstar<\/strong> is a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Communications_satellite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">communications satellites<\/a>. The first two, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 1<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 2<\/a>, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 was launched atop a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thor-Delta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Thor-Delta<\/a> rocket on July 10, 1962, and relayed the first television pictures, telephone calls, and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Radiofax\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">telegraph images<\/a> through space. It also provided the first live transatlantic television feed. Telstar 2 was launched May 7, 1963. Telstar 1 and 2\u2014though no longer functional\u2014still orbit the Earth.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\" colspan=\"2\">External audio<\/th><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Nuvola_apps_arts.svg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thumb.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/e\/e2\/Nuvola_apps_arts.svg\/20px-Nuvola_apps_arts.svg.png?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&amp;utm_campaign=parser&amp;utm_content=thumbnail\" srcset=\"\/\/thumb.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/e\/e2\/Nuvola_apps_arts.svg\/40px-Nuvola_apps_arts.svg.png?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&amp;utm_campaign=parser&amp;utm_content=thumbnail 2x\" alt=\"audio icon\" height=\"16\" width=\"16\"><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wnyc.org\/story\/felker-talking-telstar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Felker Talking Telstar<\/a>, 1962, Dr. Jean Felker&#8217;s speech starts at 4:20, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/WNYC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WNYC<\/a><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-wnyc-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Belonging to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/AT&amp;T_Corporation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AT&amp;T<\/a>, the original Telstar was part of a multi-national agreement among AT&amp;T (USA), <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bell_Labs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bell Telephone Laboratories<\/a> (USA), <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Aeronautics_and_Space_Administration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NASA<\/a> (USA), <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/General_Post_Office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GPO<\/a> (United Kingdom) and the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Orange_Group#Nationalised_service_(1878%E2%80%931980s)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">direction g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des T\u00e9l\u00e9communications<\/a> (France) to develop experimental <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Communications_satellite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">satellite communications<\/a> over the Atlantic Ocean. Bell Labs held a contract with NASA, paying the agency for each launch, independent of success.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[3]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six ground stations were built to communicate with Telstar, one each in the US, France, the UK, Canada, West Germany and Italy. The American ground station\u2014built by Bell Labs\u2014was <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Andover_Earth_Station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Andover Earth Station<\/a>, in Andover, Maine. The main British ground station was at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Goonhilly_Satellite_Earth_Station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Goonhilly Downs<\/a>, Cornwall. The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/BBC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BBC<\/a>, as international coordinator, used this location. The standards <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NTSC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">525<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/405-line_television_system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">405<\/a> conversion equipment (filling a large room) was researched and developed by the BBC and located in the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/BBC_Television_Centre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BBC Television Centre<\/a>, London. The French ground station was at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pleumeur-Bodou_Ground_Station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pleumeur-Bodou<\/a>.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[a]<\/a><\/sup> The Canadian ground station was at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Charleston,_Nova_Scotia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Charleston, Nova Scotia<\/a>. The German ground station was at Raisting in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bavaria\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bavaria<\/a>. The Italian ground station (<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fucino_Space_Centre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fucino Space Centre<\/a>) was at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fucino\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fucino<\/a>, near <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Avezzano\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Avezzano<\/a>, in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Abruzzo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abruzzo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The satellite was built by a team at Bell Telephone Laboratories that included <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_R._Pierce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John Robinson Pierce<\/a>, who created the project;<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-sun-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[4]<\/a><\/sup> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rudolf_Kompfner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rudy Kompfner<\/a>, who invented the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Traveling-wave_tube\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">traveling-wave tube<\/a> transponder that the satellite used;<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-sun-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[4]<\/a><\/sup><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[5]<\/a><\/sup> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_M._Early\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">James M. Early<\/a>, who designed its transistors and solar panels.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[6]<\/a><\/sup> The satellite is roughly spherical, measures 34.5 inches (880&nbsp;mm) in length, and weighs about 170&nbsp;lb (77&nbsp;kg). Its dimensions were limited by what would fit on one of NASA&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Delta_rocket\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Delta rockets<\/a>. Telstar was <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Spin_stabilization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spin-stabilized<\/a>, and its outer surface was covered with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Solar_cell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">solar cells<\/a> capable of generating 14&nbsp;watts of electrical power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The original Telstar had a single innovative <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transponder_(Satellite_communications)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transponder<\/a> that could relay data, a single television channel, or <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Frequency-division_multiplexing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">multiplexed<\/a> telephone circuits. Since the spacecraft spun, it required an array of antennas around its &#8220;equator&#8221; for uninterrupted microwave communication with Earth. An <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Omnidirectional_antenna\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">omnidirectional<\/a> array of small cavity antenna elements around the satellite&#8217;s &#8220;equator&#8221; received 6&nbsp;GHz <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Microwave\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">microwave<\/a> signals to relay back to ground stations. The transponder <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Frequency_mixer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">converted the frequency<\/a> to 4&nbsp;GHz, amplified the signals in a traveling-wave tube, and retransmitted them omnidirectionally via the adjacent array of larger box-shaped cavities. The prominent <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Helical_antenna\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">helical antenna<\/a> received <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telecommand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">telecommands<\/a> from a ground station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Launched by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NASA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NASA<\/a> aboard a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Delta_rocket\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Delta rocket<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cape_Canaveral_Air_Force_Station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cape Canaveral<\/a> on July 10, 1962, Telstar 1 was the first privately sponsored space launch. A medium-altitude satellite, Telstar was placed into an <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Elliptic_orbit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">elliptical<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Orbit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">orbit<\/a> completed once every 2 hours and 37 minutes, inclined at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the equator, with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Perigee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">perigee<\/a> about 952&nbsp;km (592&nbsp;mi) from Earth and apogee about 5,933&nbsp;km (3,687&nbsp;mi) from Earth<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-Dalgleish_1989-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[7]<\/a><\/sup><sup>:\u200a3-5\u200a<\/sup> This is in contrast to the 1965 <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intelsat_I\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Early Bird<\/a><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intelsat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Intelsat<\/a> and subsequent satellites that travel in circular <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Geostationary_orbit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">geostationary orbits<\/a>.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-Dalgleish_1989-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[7]<\/a><\/sup><sup>:\u200a3-5\u200a<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Due to its non-<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Geosynchronous_orbit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">geosynchronous orbit<\/a>, similar to a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Molniya_orbit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Molniya orbit<\/a>, availability of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 1<\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/transatlantic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transatlantic<\/a> signals was limited to the 30 minutes in each 2.5-hour orbit when the satellite <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pass_(spaceflight)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">passed<\/a> over the Atlantic Ocean. Ground antennas had to track the satellite with a pointing error of less than 0.06 degrees as it moved across the sky at up to 1.5 degrees per second.<sup>[<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wikipedia:Citation_needed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">citation needed<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\" id=\"mwjA\"><a class=\"mw-file-description\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Relay_1_antenna_USA.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thumb.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/2\/24\/Relay_1_antenna_USA.jpg\/250px-Relay_1_antenna_USA.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&amp;utm_campaign=parser&amp;utm_content=thumbnail\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.6778523489932886;width:250px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">177 ft. long <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Horn_antenna\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">horn antenna<\/a> at AT&amp;T&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Satellite_ground_station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">satellite ground station<\/a> in Andover, Maine, built to communicate with Telstar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the transmitters and receivers on Telstar were not powerful, ground antennas had to be 90&nbsp;ft (27&nbsp;m) tall. Bell Laboratory engineers designed a large horizontal conical <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Horn_antenna\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">horn antenna<\/a> with a parabolic reflector at its mouth that re-directed the beam. This particular design had very low <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sidelobe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sidelobes<\/a>, and thus made very low receiving system noise temperatures possible. The aperture of the antennas was 3,600&nbsp;sq&nbsp;ft (330&nbsp;m<sup>2<\/sup>). The antennas were 177&nbsp;ft (54&nbsp;m) long and weighed 380 short tons (340,000&nbsp;kg). Morimi Iwama and Jan Norton of Bell Laboratories were in charge of designing and building the electrical portions of the azimuth-elevation system that steered the antennas. The antennas were housed in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Radome\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">radomes<\/a> the size of a 14-story office building. Two of these antennas were used, one in Andover, Maine, and the other in France at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pleumeur-Bodou\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pleumeur-Bodou<\/a>. The GPO antenna at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Goonhilly_Satellite_Earth_Station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Goonhilly Downs<\/a> in Great Britain was a conventional 26-meter-diameter paraboloid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In service<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\" id=\"mwnQ\"><a class=\"mw-file-description\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:AT&amp;T_Telstar_test.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thumb.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/06\/AT%26T_Telstar_test.jpg\/250px-AT%26T_Telstar_test.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&amp;utm_campaign=parser&amp;utm_content=thumbnail\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.2376237623762376;width:250px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A photograph of a monitor during the first test of Telstar 1 on July 11, 1962<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Telstar 1 relayed its first, and non-public, television pictures\u2014a flag outside Andover Earth Station\u2014to Pleumeur-Bodou on July 11, 1962.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-transmit-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[8]<\/a><\/sup> Almost two weeks later, on July 23, at 3:00 p.m. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eastern_Daylight_Time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EDT<\/a>, it relayed the first publicly available live transatlantic television signal.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-Walter-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[9]<\/a><\/sup> The broadcast was shown in Europe by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eurovision_Network\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eurovision<\/a> and in North America by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/NBC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NBC<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/CBS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBS<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_Broadcasting_Company\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ABC<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBC<\/a>.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-Walter-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[9]<\/a><\/sup> The first public broadcast featured CBS&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Walter_Cronkite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Walter Cronkite<\/a> and NBC&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chet_Huntley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chet Huntley<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_York_City\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York<\/a>, and the BBC&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_Dimbleby\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Richard Dimbleby<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Brussels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brussels<\/a>.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-Walter-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[9]<\/a><\/sup> The first pictures were the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Statue_of_Liberty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Statue of Liberty<\/a> in New York and the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eiffel_Tower\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eiffel Tower<\/a> in Paris.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-Walter-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[9]<\/a><\/sup> The first broadcast was to have included remarks by President <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_F._Kennedy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John F. Kennedy<\/a>, but the signal was acquired before the president was ready, so engineers filled the lead-in time with a short segment of a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/WGN-TV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WGN<\/a> telecast of a live game between the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1962_Philadelphia_Phillies_season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1962_Chicago_Cubs_season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chicago Cubs<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wrigley_Field\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wrigley Field<\/a>.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-Walter-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[9]<\/a><\/sup><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-cnnlight-11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[10]<\/a><\/sup><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[11]<\/a><\/sup> The Phillies&#8217; second baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tony_Taylor_(baseball)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tony Taylor<\/a> was seen hitting a ball pitched by the Cubs&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cal_Koonce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cal Koonce<\/a> to deep right field, caught by fielder <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Altman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">George Altman<\/a> for the out.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-13\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[12]<\/a><\/sup> From there, the video switched first to Washington, DC; then to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cape_Canaveral_Air_Force_Station\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cape Canaveral<\/a>, Florida; to the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Century_21_Exposition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Seattle World&#8217;s Fair<\/a>; then to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quebec\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Quebec<\/a> and finally to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stratford,_Ontario\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stratford, Ontario<\/a>.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-Walter-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[9]<\/a><\/sup> The Washington segment included remarks by President Kennedy,<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-cnnlight-11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[10]<\/a><\/sup> talking about the price of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_dollar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American dollar<\/a>, which was causing concern in Europe. When Kennedy denied that the United States would devalue the dollar it immediately strengthened on world markets; Cronkite later said that &#8220;we all glimpsed something of the true power of the instrument we had wrought.&#8221;<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-Walter-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[9]<\/a><\/sup><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[13]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That evening, Telstar 1 also relayed the first satellite <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telephone_call\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">telephone call<\/a>, between U.S. vice-president <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lyndon_B._Johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lyndon Johnson<\/a> and the chairman of AT&amp;T, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Frederick_Kappel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Frederick Kappel<\/a>. It successfully transmitted faxes, data, and both live and taped television, including the first live transmission of television across an ocean from Andover, Maine, US, to Goonhilly Downs, England, and Pleumeur-Bodou, France.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-15\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[14]<\/a><\/sup> <sup>[<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wikipedia:Please_clarify\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">clarification needed<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup> (An experimental <em>passive<\/em> satellite, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Echo_satellite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Echo 1<\/a><\/em>, had been used to reflect and redirect communications signals two years earlier, in 1960.) In August 1962, Telstar 1 became the first satellite used to synchronize time between two continents, bringing the United Kingdom and the United States to within 1 microsecond of each other (previous efforts were accurate to only 2,000 microseconds).<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-NASA-SP-93-16\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[15]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Telstar 1 satellite also relayed computer data between two <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/IBM_1401\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IBM 1401<\/a> computers. The test, performed on October 25, 1962, sent a message from a transmitting computer in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Endicott,_New_York\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Endicott, New York<\/a>, to the earth station in Andover, Maine. The message was relayed to the earth station in France, where it was decoded by a second IBM 1401 in La Gaude, France.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[16]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Telstar 1, which had ushered in a new age of the commercial use of technology, became a victim of the military technology of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cold_War\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cold War<\/a> era. The day before Telstar 1 launched, a U.S. high-altitude nuclear bomb (called <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Starfish_Prime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Starfish Prime<\/a>) had energized the Earth&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Van_Allen_Belt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Van Allen Belt<\/a> where Telstar 1 went into orbit. This vast increase in a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_artificial_radiation_belts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">radiation belt<\/a>, combined with subsequent high-altitude blasts, including a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_nuclear_weapons_tests_of_the_Soviet_Union\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Soviet test in October<\/a>, overwhelmed Telstar&#8217;s fragile transistors.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[17]<\/a><\/sup><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-jme-smecc90-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[18]<\/a><\/sup><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[19]<\/a><\/sup> It went out of service in November 1962, after handling over 400 telephone, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telegraph\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">telegraph<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fax\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">facsimile<\/a>, and television transmissions.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-cnnlight-11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[10]<\/a><\/sup> It was restarted by a workaround in early January 1963.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-21\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[20]<\/a><\/sup> The additional radiation associated with its return to full sunlight<sup>[<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wikipedia:Please_clarify\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">clarification needed<\/a><\/em>]<\/sup> once again caused a transistor failure, this time irreparably, and Telstar 1 went back out of service on February 21, 1963.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experiments continued, and by 1964, two Telstars, two <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Relay_program\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Relay<\/a> units (from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/RCA_Corporation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RCA<\/a>), and two <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Syncom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Syncom<\/a><\/em> units (from the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hughes_Aircraft_Company\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hughes Aircraft Company<\/a>) had operated successfully in space. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Syncom_2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Syncom 2<\/a><\/em> was the first <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Geosynchronous_satellite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">geosynchronous satellite<\/a> and its successor, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Syncom_3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Syncom 3<\/a><\/em>, broadcast pictures from the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1964_Summer_Olympics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">1964 Summer Olympics<\/a> in Tokyo. The first commercial geosynchronous satellite was <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intelsat_I\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Intelsat I<\/a> (&#8220;Early Bird&#8221;) launched in 1965.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Telstar was considered a technical success. According to a US. Information Agency (USIA) poll, Telstar was better known in Great Britain than <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sputnik\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sputnik<\/a> had been in 1957.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-NASAExpSat-22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[21]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Newer Telstars<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Subsequent Telstar satellites were advanced commercial geosynchronous spacecraft that share only their name with Telstar 1 and 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second wave of Telstar satellites launched with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_301\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 301<\/a> in 1983, followed by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_302\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 302<\/a> in 1984 (which was renamed Telstar 3C after it was carried into space by Shuttle mission <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/STS-41-D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">STS-41-D<\/a>),<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[22]<\/a><\/sup> and by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_303\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 303<\/a> in 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next wave, starting with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_401\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 401<\/a>, came in 1993; which was lost in 1997 due to a magnetic storm, and then <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_402\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 402<\/a> was destroyed shortly after launch in 1994.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[23]<\/a><\/sup> It was replaced in 1995 by Telstar 402R, eventually renamed <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 10<\/a> was launched in China in 1997 by APT Satellite Company, Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2003, Telstars 4\u20138 and 13\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Loral_Skynet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Loral Skynet<\/a>&#8216;s North American fleet\u2014were sold to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intelsat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Intelsat<\/a>. Telstar 4 suffered complete failure prior to the handover. The others were renamed the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intelsat_Americas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Intelsat Americas<\/a> 5, 6, etc. At the time of the sale, Telstar 8 was still under construction by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Space_Systems\/Loral\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Space Systems\/Loral<\/a>, and it was finally launched on June 23, 2005, by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sea_Launch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sea Launch<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Telstar 18 was launched in June 2004 by Sea Launch. The upper stage of the rocket underperformed, but the satellite used its significant <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Orbital_station-keeping\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stationkeeping<\/a> fuel margin to achieve its operational <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Geostationary_orbit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">geostationary orbit<\/a>. It has enough on-board fuel remaining to allow it to exceed its specified 13-year design life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telesat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telesat<\/a> launched <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_12_Vantage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 12 Vantage<\/a> in November 2015 on a H2A204 variant of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/H-IIA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">H-IIA<\/a> rocket,<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[24]<\/a><\/sup> and it commenced service in December 2015.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[25]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_19V\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 19V<\/a> was launched on 22 July 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar_18V\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telstar 18V<\/a> was launched on 10 September 2018, on a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SpaceX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SpaceX<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Falcon_9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Falcon 9<\/a>.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-cooper-27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[26]<\/a><\/sup><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Telstar#cite_note-spacex_telstar18v-28\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[27]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n<script>\nvar zbPregResult = '0';\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A song from my 3rd album, Charm, with new vocals by Ross Smythe and Sax by @fizbahn. A salute to 1962 and Telstar. Telstar is a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 was launched atop a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7587"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7588,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7587\/revisions\/7588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}