"TELSTAR I BEGAN TO MALFUNCTION"

TELSTAR II LAUNCHED FROM CAPE

Cape Canaveral, Florida (JFK+50) On May 7, 1963, Telstar II*, a communications satellite, was launched into orbit from the Cape.  The project was a joint effort by NASA, Bell Laboratories and AT&T.

Telstar II was almost identical to Telstar I which, launched in 1962, had begun to malfunction in February 1963.

Both Telstars made it possible for live televised images to be transmitted across the Atlantic Ocean.

*Telstar II, active for 2 years, carried an experiment designed to measure the energetic proton & electron distribution in the Van Allen belts.

SOURCE

"Telstar 1,2," Gunter's Space Page, www.space.skyrocket.de/ 

   

 

Telstar II

The Goddard Library

NASA

A JOINT VENTURE OF NASA, BELL LABS & AT&T

TELSTAR II LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT

Cape Canaveral, Florida (JFK+50) On May 7, 1963, Telstar II*, a communications satellite, was successfully launched into orbit from here at the Cape.  The satellite, which used two transmitters, was a joint venture of NASA, Bell Laboratories and American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation.

Telstar II  was nearly identical to Telstar I which was launched in 1962 but began to malfunction in February 1963.  Like Telstar I, Telstar II made possible the transmission of live television images across the Atlantic Ocean.  The satellite carried an experiment designed to measure the energetic proton and electron distribution in the Van Allen belts**.

Telstar II operated without fault until its VHF transmitter was turned off at orbit #4736.

*Telstar was part of a communications system developed by AT&T beginning in the fall of 1960.  The system would include 50 to 120 active satellites in orbit at 7000 miles.  The estimated cost of this system was $500 million.

**Van Allen radiation belts are zones of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind.

SOURCE

"Telstar 1, 2," Gunter's Space Page, www.space.skyrocket.de/

 Telstar II

Photo from The Goddard Library

NASA Photo

TELSTAR II

JFK+50:  Volume 5, No. 1942

TELSTAR II LAUNCHED 53 YEARS AGO

Cape Canaveral, Florida (JFK+50) Fifty-three years ago today, May 7, 1963, Telstar II, a communications satellite, was successfully launched into orbit from here at the Cape.  The satellite was a joint venture of NASA, Bell Laboratories and American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation.

Telstar I  was nearly identical to Telstar I which was launched in 1962 but began to malfunction in February 1963.  Like Telstar I, Telstar II made possible the transmission of live television images across the Atlantic Ocean.

 Telstar II

Photo from The Goddard Library

NASA Photo

TELSTAR II LAUNCHED

May 7, 1963


TELSTAR II LAUNCHED


Telstar II, a communications satellite, was successfully launched into orbit today from Cape Canaveral, Florida.


The satellite is a joint venture of NASA, Bell Laboratories & AT&T.


It is nearly identical to Telstar I which was launched last year but began to malfunction this past February.


Like Telstar I, Telstar II will make it possible for live television images to be transmitted across the Atlantic Ocean.

                             Telstar II
           Photo from The Goddard Library
                               NASA


May 7, 1961


HO CHI MINH RE-ELECTED


Ho Chi Minh was re-elected today as president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.*


*Ho Chi Minh served as president of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969.  Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.  He died on September 2, 1969.

   Ho Chi Minh with East German Sailors
            Stralsund Harbor, 1957
                 Photograph from
          Deutsches Bundes Archiv
                        
May 7, 1954


FRENCH DEFEATED AT DIEN BIEN PHU


40,000 Viet Minh troops surrounded the French position at Dien Bien Phu today.


The battle began with a massive Viet Minh artillery barrage, followed by an infantry assault.


The French, with 15,000 troops, were over matched.


During the siege, 1600 French troops were killed & 8000 more captured.*


The struggle between the French & Viet Minh began in 1946. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French involvement in SE Asia.

Viet Minh Memorial at Dien Bien Phu
    Photograph by Mztourist (1997)


May 7, 1946


TOKYO TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING COMPANY IS FOUNDED


Musaru Ibuka & Akio Morita have co-founded a new telecommunications company today in Tokyo, Japan.


The Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company will be manufacturing Japan's 1st tape recorder, the Type-G.*


*TTEC will become SONY, the 1st company in the world to make transistors commercially successful.  


The SONY transistor radio will be manufactured in 1955 & revolutionize electronics in America & around the world.


The name SONY comes from Sonus (Latin for sound) & Sonny (American for boy).

            
             IEEE Musaru Ibuka Award
                      Photo from IEEE


May 7, 1915


LUSITANIA TORPEDOED BY GERMAN SUB


The largest, fastest & most luxurious passenger liner in the world, The Lusitania,  was sunk today by a single German torpedo fired from a U-boat or submarine.


While the luxury liner, on its way from New York City to Liverpool, was sailing in the "war zone", there is no indication a warning was given prior to the attack.


Witnesses say the liner sank within 18 to 21 minutes of the torpedo's explosion in the forward hold.


1,198 lives have been lost, 128 of these were American citizens.*


*It was learned much later that the Lusitania was carrying tons of contraband munitions from the US, a neutral at the time, to Great Britain, at war with Germany.

                       RMS Lusitania