Space: Radiation-Proof Telstar

The launch seemed so routine that only a few bird watchers turned out at the Cape Canaveral pad. And as the Thor-Delta rocket rose above the southern morning, the Bell Telephone Laboratories scientists who had built its cargo followed its course with rising confidence. Satisfied at last that their latest communication satellite, Telstar II, was in proper orbit, they put through a telephone call to their space communication station at Andover, Maine. “She’s all yours. Go play with her!” It was hardly the type of space spectacular that President Kennedy warned would soon be touched off by Soviet scientists, but even so, Telstar II turned out to be quite a toy. On its fourth swing around the earth it came within range of the great horn antenna at Andover, which transmitted a TV test pattern. From high in space, the satellite sent the pattern back crisp and clear. As Telstar swept northeast, it came within range of Europe, and solemn pictures of two telephone company officials went up from Andover and down to stations in England and France. During later orbits color TV programs made the Atlantic hop. Except when the satellite was at the limit of its useful range, the pictures were excellent. Scientists reported that everything on board the satellite was working perfectly. The internal temperature, which had climbed to 85° under the Florida sun, cooled down in space to a comfortable 78°. Telstar II is basically much the same as Telstar I. Its chief modifications are intended to avoid damage by the high-speed electrons of the Van Allen radiation belts, which silenced its predecessor after seven months of service. The new satellite’s higher orbit, rising to 6,713 instead of 3,531 miles, makes it spend more time in the “slot” between the upper and lower belts, where the radiation is comparatively mild. Bell Lab scientists are careful not to predict how long Telstar II will operate without distress, but they are admittedly optimistic. Its curving course carries the satellite just high enough to bring it within range simultaneously of Andover and a station now under construction near Tokyo. If it holds out until the summer of 1964, it will be able to bounce the Olympic Games by color TV from Japan directly to the U.S. Long before that it may relay to Europe from the U.S. the facial expressions of Astronaut Gordon Cooper orbiting the earth, and the glorious view of the oceans and continents from his Mercury capsule.