Satellites

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Rubric: [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.doc]], [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.pdf]]
// **Written Information** //: As you enter text, the area will expand. Make sure to check the required details of the assignment and review the rubric (see document links) to self-assess your work. Your paragraphs will be in block format, enter one return between paragraphs. The tab key, indent feature will not appear when typing directly into the wiki page. Satellites have changed over the ages and are still changing. This page focases on environmental and communication satellites. Environmental satellites are used to tell the weather. For example, on weather channels, when they show you the satellite raidar or the seven day forcast, they are using environmental satellites to predict what the weather will be like or how/ where the storms are coming from in the state and/ or other states. For the seven day forcast they are using a different type of environmental satellite that predicts what the weather will be like in the oncoming week.

//Visuals //  || **A communicatin satellite. ** ||  || ||   || ||   ||   ||
 * **A communications satellite orbiting Earth. **
 * "Communications Satellite." (© ESA/Photo Researchers, Inc.) //Kids InfoBits Presents: Astronomy//. Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits **
 * Communications Satellite." (© SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.) //Kids InfoBits Presents: Astronomy//. Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/Ki dsInfoBits**
 * [[image:http://galenet.galegroup.com/images/itkids/pct/00230210.jpg caption="Image of "Environmental Satellite""]] || **A painting on a weather satellite.**
 * "Weather Satellite Painting" (Photodisc/Royalty Free.) Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits**
 * **This satellite gathers information about the weather and the environment.**
 * Environmental Satellite." (© NASA GSFC/Photo Researchers, Inc.) //Kids InfoBits Presents: Astronomy//. Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits** ||  ||   ||
 * **Satellites perform many critical functions from spaceùincluding the transmission of telephone and television signals as well as weather and navigation data.**
 * "Artificial Satellite." (PhotoSpin) //The Blackbirch Encyclopedia of Science & Invention//. 4 vols. Blackbirch Press, 2001. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits**

Make sure to include the location of your images; add a caption with this information

//**Works Cited** //  **Sources** : Include the source information for all of the magazine articles, reference sources (encyclopedias) and web site pages that were used to complete your project. The source information for encyclopedias may be found at the end or beginning of each entry in iCONN. When using periodicals, the publication information will be at the beginning or end of the article. This needs to be formatted for MLA standards. If it is not labeled 'Source Citation' it can be formatted appropriately by using EasyBib.com. You should use EasyBib for the web sites. The final Works Cited should be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation.

**Sample:**

"Milky Way." //Kids InfoBits Presents: Astronomy//. Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. "The Milky Way." //WMAP's Universe//. NASA, 28 June 2010. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. . Vergano, Dan. "Galaxy Bracketed by Big Bubbles." //USA Today// 10 Nov. 2010: 05A. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.

** //Your Source List// :** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Communications Satellite." //Astronomy & Space: From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch//. Gale, 2007. //Gale Science In Context//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. (**Communication Satellites**), "Communications satellite." //The Columbia Encyclopedia//, 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2000. Reproduced in __//**Kids**//__ __//**InfoBits**//__. Detroit: Gale, 2012 **(Communications sattelite**), "Weather satellite." //World of Invention//. Gale, 2006. //Gale Science In Context//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.(**Weather satellites**), <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Weather satellite." //The Columbia Encyclopedia//, 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2000. Reproduced in __//**Kids InfoBits**//__. Detroit: Gale, 2012 (**Weather satellite**).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**// Topic //:** Communication and environmental sattelites. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">// **What is your topic?** //Environmental and communication sattelites. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**// State the focus of your research //:** Finding information about environmental and communication sattelites.

//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Notes** // ====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Include notes, statistics and facts that you will use to write your final paper. You may want to label sections of your notes to help you be more organized as you write. As you take notes from a source, you should list the source citation in the Works Cited section above. ==== __** Satellite Technology **__ On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the Earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik, a Russian word meaning "fellow traveler". Sputnick was an 183-pound satellite the size and shape of a basketball. It did little except orbit the Earth every 98 minutes and emit a simple radio signal. Yet, this simple event started what was to be known as "The Space Race" that eventually led to the lunar landings as well as space shuttle missions, and weather and direct broadcast television satellites. Although the satellite concept is theoretically simple--an object placed high enough above Earth's atmosphere to ameliorate air resistance, while moving at a speed of 17,280 miles/hour--the successful launch, orbital insertion, and control of any satellite is extremely complex. This is evidenced by the many failures that occurred before Sputnik. In spite of the complexity of the task, according to NASA, there were approximately 3,000 useful satellites orbiting Earth in 2010. In addition to these, the U.S. Space Command is also tracking over 8,000 pieces of space debris that are roughly baseball-sized or larger. This demonstrates that humans have not only mastered satellite technology, but also succeeded in extending their well-developed littering tendencies into space. A satellite's orbit around Earth is described in one or more of three dimensions: the // perigee, // its closest distance from the Earth; the // apogee, // its furthest distance from the Earth; and, its // inclination //, the angle the orbit makes with the equator. Satellites are put into particular types of orbit depending on their mission. In a geostationary orbit, the satellite speed is synchronized with the Earth's rotation so that the satellite stays in the same relative position. A polar orbit is characterized by its 90-degree inclination to Earth's equator. A typical trajectory for a satellite in Low Earth Orbit is approximately circular, with the apogee and perigee each only about 300 miles above Earth's surface. <span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 27px;">__**Communications Satellites**__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The age of communications satellites often has brought about worldwide telephone and television connections, the pictures and videos people see on nightly news and weather reports; electronic international banking; and the transfer of huge amounts of scientific data. One satellite can carry more than one hundred thousand telephone calls and several television signals at one time. Almost any information that relies on cables, lines, or antennas can now be communicated by satellites orbiting about Earth. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> A communications satellite, often referred to as comsat, is a spacecraft that orbits Earth and transmits and receives communications data using radio signals. The satellite consists of a relay station equipped with receivers, amplifiers and transmitters. Most of these satellites circle Earth at an altitude of about 22,000 miles in a geosynchronous orbit, a path that takes twenty-four hours to complete, like one rotation of Earth. If a satellite is launched over the equator, it may attain a geostationary orbit, a special kind of geosynchronous orbit. This situation means that the satellite always travels in the same plane as, and at a fixed position above, Earth's equator and maintains constant contact with relay station on the ground below it. A network of satellites are often used to connect all parts of the globe.

<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">__**Communications satellite**__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Communications satellite artificial satellite that functions as part of a global radio-communications network. //Echo 1,// the first communications satellite, launched in 1960, was an instrumented inflatable sphere that passively reflected radio signals back to earth. Later satellites carried with them electronic devices for receiving, amplifying, and rebroadcasting signals to earth. //Relay 1,// launched in 1962 by the NASA, was the basis for //Telstar 1,// a commercially sponsored experimental satellite. Geosynchronous orbits were first used by NASA's Syncom series and //Early Bird,// later renamed //Intelsat 1//, the world's first commercial communications satellite. In 1962, the U.S. Congress passed the Communications Satellite Act, which created the Comsat. Agencies from 17 other countries joined Comsat in 1964 in forming the Intelsat for the purpose of establishing a global commercial communications network. Renamed the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization in 1974, Intelsat now has 143 member agencies, a network of 17 satellites in geosynchronous orbits that provides instantaneous communications throughout the world, and more than 2,000 earth stations to transmit and receive signals to and from the satellites. It has orbited eight series of Intelsat satellites, beginning with //Intelsat 1,// also known as //Early Bird,// in 1965. The satellites in the current series, //Intelsat 8,// can carry 22,500 two-way telephone calls and three color television broadcasts at the same time; this could be increased to as many as 112,500 two-way telephone circuits using advanced electronic equipment.Comsat is also the U.S. representative to the Inmarsat. Established in 1979 to serve the maritime industry by developing satellite communications for ship management and distress and safety applications, Inmarsat was originally called the International Maritime Satellite Organization but changed its name to reflect its expansion into land, mobile, and aeronautical communications. Its users now include thousands of people who live or work in remote areas without reliable terrestrial networks. Inmarsat presently represents 86 member countries and has nine satellites in geosynchronous orbits--four of these satellites, the latest //Inmarsat-3// generation, provide overlapping global coverage, and the remainder are available as spares or for leasing to other organizations.In addition to the Intelsat and Inmarsat satellites, many others are in orbit. These are used by individual countries, organizations, and commercial ventures for internal communications or for business or military use. A new generation of satellites, called direct-broadcast satellites, transmits directly to small domestic antennas to provide such services as cablelike television programming.

**__ Communication Sattelites Are Born __**

Before 1956, the potential for trans-Atlantic communication did not look very promising. People could speak to each other by radio and telephone, but this was subject to atmospheric conditions. During a storm, the connection would be poor. In 1956, the first trans-Atlantic cables were in place on the ocean floor, but there were not enough of them to handle the increasing volume of telephone calls. Scientists looked up, rather than down, for the next phase of communications technology. British scientist and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke first introduced the concept of communications satellites in 1945. He proposed constructing an international communication system using three orbiting satellites. To make this a reality, scientists had to overcome many obstacles. They had to design a machine that could withstand extreme heat and cold and have a power supply that would last years. They also had to figure out how to launch it into orbit.

=<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__** W **** eather satellites **__ = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The first attempt to look at the earth's weather from space occurred early in the history of the United States space program. In 1959, Vanguard II was launched with light-sensitive cells able to provide information about the earth's cloud cover. Unfortunately, the satellite tumbled in orbit and was unable to return any information. Explorer VI, also launched in 1959, was more successful and transmitted the first photographs of the earth's atmosphere from space. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> In 1960, the United States launched the first experimental weathersatellite, TIROS 1. The acronym for Television and Infra Red Observation Satellite, TIROS 1 televised over 22,000 photos before it failed six weeks later. It detected potential hurricanes days before they could have been spotted by any other means. It watched the spring breakup of the ice in the St. Lawrence River and helped forecast weather for the supplying of Antarctic bases. TIROS 1 also used infrared detectors to measure the amount of heat radiated by the earth's surface and the clouds. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Later versions of TIROS improved upon the original with television cameras that provided direct, real-time readouts of pictures to simple stations around the world. In 1970, ITQS-l was launched, which not only featured direct-readout, automatic picture transmission but also had the ability to store images for later transmission and processing. Another successful series was called NOAA after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some NOAA satellites were placed in geostationary orbit (a satellite at the correct altitude to orbit the Earth once every 24 hours, and so appear stationary in the sky as viewed from the ground) and thus were able to continuously observe one side of the Earth. This helped in the detection of severe storms and tornadoes and provided real-time coverage at an earlier stage of cloud and frontal weather movements. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Other TIROS-type satellites, such as NIMBUS, 1960s, and NOAA-9 ,1980 through 1990, have traveled in polar orbits, where their infrared sensors measure temperatures and water vapor over the entire globe. Several Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites also observe the Earth. The satellites form part of an international global weather forecasting system administered by the World Meteorological Organization. In addition to two US GOES satellites, the eastern Pacific ocean is monitored by a Japanese geostationary satellite, India's INSAT covers the Indian Ocean, Russia maintains a geostationary satellite over western Asia, and the European Space Agency's Meteosat observes the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and Africa. These satellites are able to provide weather reports for places that have not been covered very well in the past: ocean regions, deserts, and polar areas. They also trace hurricanes, typhoons, and tropical storms, in the process saving many lives. Their data are used to produce state-of-the-art charts showing sea-surface temperatures, information useful to the shipping and fishing industries. = **__Weather satellite__** =

The first attempt to look at the earth's weather from space occurred early in the history of the United States space program. In 1959, Vanguard II was launched with light-sensitive cells able to provide information about the earth's cloud cover. Unfortunately, the satellite tumbled in orbit and was unable to return any information. Explorer VI, also launched in 1959, was more successful and transmitted the first photographs of the earth's atmosphere from space. In 1960, the United States launched the first experimental weather satellite, TIROS 1. The acronym for Television and Infra Red Observation Satellite, TIROS 1 televised over 22,000 photos before it failed six weeks later. It detected potential hurricanes days before they could have been spotted by any other means. It watched the spring breakup of the ice in the St. Lawrence River and helped forecast weather for the supplying of Antarctic bases. TIROS 1 also used infrared detectors to measure the amount of heat radiated by the earth's surface and the clouds. Later versions of TIROS improved upon the original with television cameras that provided direct, real-time readouts of pictures to simple stations around the world. In 1970, ITQS-l was launched, which not only featured direct-readout, automatic picture transmission but also had the ability to store images for later transmission and processing. Another successful series was called NOAA after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some NOAA satellites were placed in geostationary orbit (a satellite at the correct altitude to orbit the Earth once every 24 hours, and so appear stationary in the sky as viewed from the ground) and thus were able to continuously observe one side of the Earth. This helped in the detection of severe storms and tornadoes and provided real-time coverage at an earlier stage of cloud and frontal weather movements. Other TIROS-type satellites, such as NIMBUS, 1960, and NOAA-9 ,1980 through 1990, have traveled in polar orbits (circling the Earth north to south or vice versa, rather than girdling the equator), where their infrared sensors measure temperatures and water vapor over the entire globe. Several GOES also observe the Earth. The GOES satellites form part of an international global weather forecasting system administered by the World Meteorological Organization. In addition to two US GOES satellites, the eastern Pacific ocean is monitored by a Japanese geostationary satellite, India's INSAT covers the Indian Ocean, Russia maintains a geostationary satellite over western Asia, and the European Space Agency's Meteosat observes the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and Africa. These satellites are able to provide weather reports for places that have not been covered very well in the past: ocean regions, deserts, and polar areas. They also trace hurricanes, typhoons, and tropical storms, in the process saving many lives. Their data are used to produce state-of-the-art charts showing sea-surface temperatures, information useful to the shipping and fishing industries. New satellites that probe the earth's atmosphere by day and night in all weather are being developed in many countries. The weather satellite is now an established tool of meteorologists all over the world. =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%;">__ **Weather satellite** __ =

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Weather satellites are artificial satellites used to gather data on a global basis for improvement of weather forecasting. Information includes cloud cover, storm location, temperature, and heat balance in the earth's atmosphere. The first weather satellites in the United States were those of the Tiros series, which began in 1960; the Nimbus series, which moved in a polar orbit, was next; the Environmental Science Services Administration started in 1966 and launched weather satellites; and in 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite provided photographs to help forecasting. Other meteorological satellites include a series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, which send weather data and pictures that cover a section of the United States; China, Japan, India, and the European Space Agency have similar craft. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's satellite series relay meteorological data to stations on the surface, including information on possible changes in various weather parameters that may signal climate change.