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From a ground station nestled in the mountains at Andover, Maine,
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a signal is sent to a speeding satellite, an historic feat
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that could reshape man's future.
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That satellite, of course, is the Telstar, 170 pounds of
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complex electronic equipment that receives signals beamed
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from Earth, magnifies them 10 billion times,
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and rebroadcasts them back to Earth.
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Pictures, telephone calls, telegraph messages, and computer data—
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all can be handled by the orbiting device.
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The Telstar receives its power from batteries that are recharged
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by the sapphire-coated solar cells, which in turn are
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activated by rays from the Sun, as it hurtles through space
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at a low point of 600 miles to a high of 3,500 miles.
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The Telstar is settled off from Cape Canaveral, atop a Thor-Delta rocket
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in a joint industry-government effort.
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A Space Administration team handles the launching for AT&T.
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And it's a 50-million-dollar phone call for the telephone company!
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[sound of rocket blasting off]
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Future plans call for the orbiting of 20 to 25 satellites
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like the Telstar. Thus, when one passes out of range of
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ground stations, another will be coming into position.
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Presently, along with the ground station in Maine,
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there is a receiver and transmitter in Great Britain at Cornwall
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and in France on the coast of Brittany.
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Even as Telstar is launched, the French rush to complete
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their installation to receive a signal that night.
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Now the rocket climbs far into the atmosphere and the Telstar
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is about to separate and orbit the Earth each 2½ hours.
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Starting with the sixth orbit and through the ninth, the Telstar
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is in range of both the US and European stations
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and pictures are received clearly in France,
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with somewhat lesser success in Britain on this first test.
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The signals are beamed from this 18-story dome that houses
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the super-sensitive horn weighing nearly 400 tons,
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an antenna so delicately tuned that it picks up a mere
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whisper of a signal from a satellite and amplifies it again
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billions of times for rebroadcast over cables or the air.
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Now comes the historic moment, a moment compared in significance
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with the first message sent over the telegraph:
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This is the first picture transmitted to outer space and
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received back again on Earth! Scenes of the dome at Andover
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are flashed across the sea and man marks another milestone
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in this age of scientific miracles, so proudly it waves.
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What does the future hold?
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Well, scientists visualize a belt of Telstars encircling
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the globe in such a manner that transmission will be
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continuous around the world. Both sides of the Earth
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can be in immediate photographic contact, communication
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that could bring better understanding among men.
