The Relay program consisted of Relay 1 and Relay 2, two early American
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
s in elliptical
medium Earth orbit
A medium Earth orbit (MEO) is an geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit with an altitude above a low Earth orbit (LEO) and below a high Earth orbit (HEO) – between above sea level. . Both were primarily experimental
communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...
s funded by
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
and developed by
RCA.
As of December 2, 2016, both satellites were still in orbit. Relay 1 provided the first American television transmissions across the Pacific Ocean.
Relay 1
Relay 1 was launched atop a
Delta B rocket on December 13, 1962, from
LC-17A
Space Launch Complex 17 (SLC-17), previously designated Launch Complex 17 (LC-17), was a launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Florida used for Thor and Delta launch vehicles launches between 1958 and 2011.
It was built in ...
at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Its payload included
radiation
In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes:
* ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...
experiments designed to map the Earth's
radiation belts. Apogee was 7500 km; perigee 1300. The
spin-stabilized satellite
Spacecraft attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of a spacecraft (vehicle/satellite) with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, et ...
had an initial spin rate of 167.3 rpm and an initial spin axis orientation with a declination of -68.3 deg and a right ascension of -56 deg. Its orbital period was 185.09 minutes. Shortly after launch, two basic problems evolved. One was the satellite's response to spurious commands, and the other was the leakage of a high-power regulator. This leakage caused the first two weeks of satellite operation to be useless. After this period, satellite operation returned to normal. The satellite carried one transmitter for tracking and one for
telemetry
Telemetry is the in situ data collection, collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic data transmission, transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Gr ...
. The telemetry system was PCM at 1152 bit/s. Each 128 words per telemetry frame (of one second duration) used 113 words for the particle experiment. The leakage problem caused the
spacecraft
A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...
to revert to a low voltage state early in 1965. Sporadic transmission occurred until February 10, 1965, after which no usable scientific data was obtained.
Relay 1 was the first satellite to broadcast television from the United States to Japan. The first broadcast during orbit 2677 (1963-11-22, 2027:42-2048 (GMT), or 1:27 pm Dallas time) was to be a prerecorded address from the president of the United States to the Japanese people, but was instead the announcement of the
John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was Assassination, assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. Central Time Zone, CST in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Deale ...
. On orbit 2678, this satellite carried a broadcast titled ''Record, Life of the Late John F. Kennedy'', the first television program broadcast simultaneously in the U.S. and Japan. In later orbits,
NBC transmitted coverage of the funeral procession from the White House to the cathedral.
In the three days following the Kennedy assassination, Relay 1 handled a total of 11 spot broadcasts; eight to Europe and three to Japan. All the useful passes of the satellite were made available to permit immediate coverage of the tragic events.
In August 1964, this satellite was used as the United States-Europe link for the broadcast of the
1964 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...
from
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, after the signal was relayed to the United States via
Syncom 3.
This marked the first time that two satellites were used in tandem for a television broadcast.
COSPAR
The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) was established on October 3, 1958 by the International Council for Scientific Unions (ICSU). Among COSPAR's objectives are the promotion of scientific research in space on an international level, wi ...
satellite ID: Relay 1 1962-Beta-Upsilon 1 (62BU1)
Relay 2
Relay 2 was launched atop a
Delta B rocket on January 21, 1964, from
LC-17B
Space Launch Complex 17 (SLC-17), previously designated Launch Complex 17 (LC-17), was a launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Florida used for Thor and Delta launch vehicles launches between 1958 and 2011.
It was built in 1 ...
at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Apogee 7600 km; perigee 1870 km. It was physically similar to Relay 1. Design changes in this satellite improved its performance so response to spurious commands was essentially eliminated.
NASA ceased operations with Relay 2 on September 26, 1965, with the repurposing of the
Mojave Desert Ground Station, the only one in the world equipped to communicate with the satellite, for use with the
Applications Technology Satellite program. The final broadcast was of Sen. B. Everett Jordon (D-N.C.) opening the week-long International Exposition of the American Textile Machinery Association in Exposition Hall in Atlantic City.
One of the two onboard
transponders operated normally until November 20, 1966. From that time until its failure on January 20, 1967, it required a longer time than normal to come on. The other transponder continued to operate until June 9, 1967, when it too failed to operate normally.
COSPAR satellite ID: Relay 2 1964-003A
See also
*
List of communications satellite firsts
* Launch data:
**
1962 in spaceflight (July–December)
Deep space rendezvous
Orbital launch summary
By country
By rocket
By orbit
References
Footnotes
{{Orbital launches in 1962
Spaceflight by year ...
(Relay 1)
**
1964 in spaceflight (January–June)
Deep Space Rendezvous
Orbital launch summary
By country
By rocket
By orbit
References
Footnotes
{{Orbital launches in 1964
Spaceflight by year ...
(Relay 2)
*
State funeral of John F. Kennedy
The state funeral of John F. Kennedy, 35th U.S. President, took place in Washington, D.C., during the three days that followed his assassination on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.
Kennedy's body was brought back to Washington after ...
References
External links
* NASA Space Science Data Center description:
*
Relay 1*
Relay 2*
NASA FACTS PROJECT RELAY G-12-62
{{Use American English, date=January 2014
1962 in spaceflight
NASA programs
History of telecommunications
Communications satellites
Satellites orbiting Earth
1964 in spaceflight
Spacecraft launched in 1962
Spacecraft launched in 1964
Satellites of the United States