Today is an important day in History. In 1962, Relay I, the first U.S. communications earth satellite to transmit telephone, television, teleprinter and facsimile signals was launched. The first test patterns were not transmitted until 3 Jan 1963, when the solar cells had built up sufficient battery charge. It had 8,215 solar cells, 3 nickel cadmium batteries and 5 external antennas. The signals were relayed between the U.S. and England, Italy and Brazil. The satellite payload, which was 33-in high, 29-in diameter and 172-lb weight, was launched on a Thor-Delta rocket from the Atlantic Missile Range at Cape Canaveral, Florida, into an orbit with perigee 817.7 miles and apogee 4,610.9 miles. Earlier communications satellites had been launched for testing purposes, such as the Echo I, on 12 Aug 1960.
To read more about Relay I please visit the following websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay_program
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1962-068A
Source of image:NASA
