NEEDLE IN THE SKY

time is now running in X minus 30 seconds time is now running at X minus fifteen fourteen thirteen twelve eleven ten nine eight seven six five four three two one zero fire [Music] ladies and gentlemen mr. Willie lay space travel is no longer a dream nor just a setting for imaginative tales is to come they are factual as correct as we can make them right now with the launching of artificial satellites the age of space has begun when has many questions about the nearby universe which he wants answered for example is there life on Mars what is another cloud covers of Venus what does the other side of the Moon look like man has always wanted to rise out of his air ocean to see what spaces like and now he is taking the first step to make this impersonal reality but before men himself can undertake space travel before he can explore new worlds he must gather a great deal of information about conditions in space he must be certain of the physical facts he will encounter away from the earth so he sends up mechanical messengers to send back the information the most reason and modern of these is the satellite the data gathered by the instruments orbiting around the earth are used in our preparation for space travel how such data are gathered is a story of organization of communication and volunteer contributions the story you are about to hear has been long in the making months before the launching of any earth satellite civilian volunteers began planning and training for the parts they would play in our igy earth satellite program sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences among these volunteers were the pilots and crew men of the Civil Air Patrol as a civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force the Civil Air Patrol participated in a program for training the volunteers against the advent of actual satellites when it also became apparent that hundreds of volunteers would have to be trained to spot and track any earth satellite an ingenious procedure was initiated to simulate a satellite orbiting at high altitude they simply took a common household flashlight lab and attached it to the suction end of the familiar household tool known as the plumbers helper $2 worth of parts you can purchase at any hardware store when there's strange an unglamorous device endearingly called the bug is told through the night skies behind a Civil Air Patrol plane it appears almost exactly like a real Earth satellite hundreds of miles above the earth all across the country the volunteer Civil Air Patrol crews began flying training missions for their fellow volunteers of Operation moon watch in more than a hundred isolated locations throughout the country moon white stations like this was set up by volunteer astronomers and it takes the help of hundreds of volunteers the country over to collect the data which becomes available from a satellite streaking around the earth in outer space you may be wondering why all the excitement about the satellites what is this we stand to gain from a mechanical ball flying around the earth at nearly 18,000 miles per hour carrying 18 pounds of scientific instruments and radio transmitters the point is it can help to tell us more about the environment of space in which we hope to travel from it we can learn more about the sun's radiation cosmic and ultraviolet rays measure the Earth's magnetism and other information useful in the construction of the first spaceship practically to later satellite information can serve to improve our weather forecasts enable us to take photographs of our neighboring planets serve as released for global television and as jump-off places for trips into deeper space the first step in gathering such vital information lies in locating and tracking the satellite the electronic ears of men attract stations strained for the tone of the satellites tiny radio transmitters the indented eye of the precision tracking camera pierces the night sky to record the flight of the speeding satellite and so professional joins volunteer in the exciting job of predicting satellite orbits suddenly with a launching of Russia Sputnik the first I G Y satellite this exercise was jolted from the theoretical into the practical this was a real opportunity to test our training now we could check our entire organization in our communication network for the tracking of earth satellites here at the igy Vanguard computing center in Washington DC is the nerve center of that network - it would come the bits of information from the minute track stations the tracking cameras the army's Microlock stations and from the volunteer observers manning operation moon watch sites here the data will be evaluated here is where the all-important orbital prediction will be made [Music] but Sputnik also brought with it a serious problem to the men concerned with our igy earth satellite program in fact at first it appeared to be an insurmountable obstacle if the volunteers Manning the scientific observation stations were to perform their jobs effectively orbital predictions on the orbiting satellite had to be flashed to them from Washington daily but communication was the principal problem and the weak link in our tracking network the expense of sending commercial telephone or telegraph messages to more than a thousand tracking stations across the country each and every day was out of the question again the Civil Air Patrol was called upon for assistance one of the facilities maintained by the C ap is a well disciplined nationwide communications network with 16 years of training behind it numbering 13,000 individual stations both fixed and mobile coast-to-coast manned by qualified volunteer operators the Civil Air Patrol could and ward handled the job the very next morning C AP headquarters in Washington alerted its communicators and within 24 hours after C AP assistance was offered the first orbital prediction on the Russian satellite was transmitted from Washington DC the message was received at the headquarters station of each of the 52 civil air patrol wings all 49 states Hawaii Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia immediately c.a.p operators began rebroadcasting the orbital predictions to the squadron stations situated in each of the satellite observation point areas [Music] in hundreds of communities all over the country loyal citizens from lawyers to school teachers operating out of their homes were alerted to establish the CA P Network for the transmission of the tracking information civilians by day uniformed volunteers by night they generously lent their time and equipment facilities to the cause of operation will watch immediately the all-important message was relayed to the waiting scientist to sum the message was relayed by telephone in some cases CA P mobile radio cars were assigned to take the traffic and hand carrier to the moon watch or for attract station which in many instances is located in isolated outlying areas [Music] in still other instances the local CA P on its setup portable communications right at the observation site thanks to years of training and preparation for widespread communications facilities of the Civil Air Patrol were ready to take on this important job [Music] these photo trackers got their pictures thanks to the satellite forecasts flash to them by radio what is the why of all this you may well ask why is it so important that all units of our earth satellite program function thoroughly and efficiently the answer is that rockets and satellites open new perspectives for examination of the earth its air ocean and the space beyond before the age of rocket research man's knowledge of particle and radiation bombardment of the earth and upper air was severely restricted by the modifying effects of the atmosphere in pursuit of this evasive knowledge scientists climbed mountains loaded aircraft and balloons with instruments devised elaborate ground equipment valuable techniques of course but primitive by comparison with the developments of our new interplanetary age rocket and satellite research will help to pull aside the veil which since time began has obscured the true meaning of the Stars at 10:48 p.m. on January 31st 1958 the u.s. jupiter-c rocket launched the igy satellite Explorer 1 into outer space [Music]