Western Union International - prep for Apollo 11

what will make it possible for you to see the Apollo 11 splash down and Recovery telecast live and in color on July 24th you're looking at the most important part of it the antenna of the world's first and only mobile color TV Earth Station built and operated for Western Union International by the space systems center of General Electric this new small Earth station is a Marvel of engineering technology here you see the unit being being assembled on the deck of the Prime recovery vessel the aircraft carrier USS Hornet the key to the unit's portability is its antenna that folds and unfolds like an umbrella so that it can be transported anywhere in the world for on thepot live TV news transmission this unit by the way is just a miniature of the many permanent Earth stations now operating around the world using satellite Communications once the antenna is assembled it's carefully protected by a plastic air pressurized Rao so that it can operate in any weather but it's what happens under this plastic bubble that really counts from television cameras aboard the carrier color TV signals are fed into a special transmitter these signals are in turn aimed by the antenna unit and a Pencil Thin beam to a tiny satellite hovering more than 22,000 mi in outer space from the satellite the signals are bounced back to Earth where they're picked up and relayed to the TV stations around the world sound complicated yes but the first such system was created by Western Union International and General Electric to make sure that you see all the Apollo recovery broadcasts July 24th The Day the Earth takes a deep breath and you'll see it all live and in color from the decks of the USS Hornet