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thes il.rld..000banteenaneairibil-canver.pon^ir.gh ofeve*ansces*hen:om-)StS.jrgoper-GiantTRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES. N M W—A gadget that looks like a kingsize clothes line has been set up here to help the nation keep an eye on the skyThe Navy calls it a Space Surveillance System—or SPASl'R.It was developed to spot, track and predict orbits of hostile satellites passing over the United States and is nearly ready to be put into action.There are three parts to this system. The first is a detection network. The second is a tracking and prediction center. The third shows the present, past and future paths of known satellites in orbit.The detection network is made ot two parts — eastern andupwestern Each part has two 108 megacycle receivers, separated bv about 500 miles, and a 50 kilowatt transmitter exactly be tween them.THE TRANSMITTER sendsup a wide beam, and anythingcrossing it is reflected back to the receivers.The receiving stations are equipped to measure very precisely the direction from which the satellite reflections arrive.That data is sent automatieallv over telephone circuits to the Space Surveillance Operations Center at Dahlgren, Va, for study.The receivers for ne eastern part of the system are at Fort Stewart, Ga,, and Silver l,ake, Miss. The transmitter for that part is about 18 miles north of/Clothes Line7 Tracks SatellitesSATELLITE SPOTTER: This Navv Space Surveillance System, resembling a clothesline 1,600 feet long and 300 feet wide, was built to spot satellites passing over U.S.Montgomery, Ala.The western part of the system has its transmitter at Gila River, near Phoenix. Ariz. The receivers are located at the Naval Air Station, Brown Field, near San Diego, and at Elephant Butte, near here.Data from the four receivers, which resemble a mass of old fashioned clothes line poles and lines, is relayed to Dahlgren.Va., at the instant a satellite passes through the beams from the transmitters.THE NAVY says It hopes that within the near future the data will be automatically inserted from the transmission lines into a computer which will determine satellite orbits.As a satellite repeatedly crosses the beam in successiverevolutions, the computer will accumulate observations and predict where successive orbitswill pass.The Navy also says there are plans to use the system to predict information about where satellites will re-enter the atmosphere and where they will be at any specific time during the final phase of their existence.
Newspaper Details
Elmira Advertiser
Elmira, New York, US
Sat, May 14, 1960
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Arkansas S.
AR, USA 16 Nov 2021
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