TS+P4+Satellites+DS-Paper

Lot of information in how this technology is being used and improved but too little on what changes are being made to society. I’m only getting: better satellite TV service, better weather forecasting ( and folks will argue with that) sat phones. How is society being shaped by this?? How will the next generation’s life be different GRADE B+ user:pbeder

Satellites are objects that orbit above the Earth and send and receive signals which are sent by the antennas. There are many types of satellites such as communication satellite, satellite television, satellite phones, satellite dish, weather satellite, geosynchronous satellite (satellite which orbit lies over the equator whose orbital speed equals the Earth's rotational speed), etc. NASA uses geosynchronous satellites to give communications and data between spacecraft, like the Space Shuttle and the Hubble Space Telescope, and control centers on Earth. Communication satellites have brought many benefits to society worldwide, they have introduced new markets for audiovisual and media. For example digital TV had been broadcast over pan-European satellite. Also, because we have so many satellites all around the world, it helps us respond to emergencies or disasters wherever they occur. Satellites might also be the only way to provide broadband connection to very isolated areas. As time goes by weather satellites improve and provide us with a variety and more accurate weather reports. There also better forecasts of air quality, space weather, health hazards, water availability and quality, lightning, etc. Years ago when satellite television first hit the market, home dishes were very expensive and the metal units took a lot of yard space. Only big T.V. fans were willing to go through this trouble and pay so much money to put up a dish. But today you see satellite dishes up on rooftops all over the country. If you drive through rural areas that are beyond the reach of the cable companies you will see dishes on almost every house. A satellite phone also known as satphone, is a phone that connects directly with orbiting communication satellites. This type of phone has the size and weight of the ones of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, but it usually has a larger retractable antenna. These are mainly used for expeditions into isolated areas where terrestrial cellular service are not reached. Satellites are very efficient and important to society, without them we would be lost, we would not know what the weather is going to be tomorrow, we would not have any idea of what the world looks like, we wouldn’t even know how to travel because satellites are so important to our every day life and we depend on them. We no longer worry of unexpected weather patterns that kill hundreds of people, because our weather satellites warn us of possible up coming disasters. Farmers and foresters benefit from satellites because they receive reports about river flooding and forest fires. Our future itself is a lot more secure with the use of NASA's warnings about the shorting of the ozone layer, (the part of the Earth's atmosphere that contains relatively high concentrations of ozone (O3) ). Satellites provide us with a lot of crucial information that society needs. Satellite based systems can provide broadband internet access and also mobile users without having to install expensive wired networks. They form an important part of the base of today's Information Society, and it will provide access in the future to millions of users all over the world for many other programs.

The first satellite was Sputnik 1, it was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. This provoked the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. (The Space Race was a competition of space exploration between the United States and the Soviet Union, it lasted from about 1957 to 1975. The point of this was to explore outer space with artificial satellites artificial satellites to send people into space and to land people on the Moon .)

How are U.S. soldiers controlling their plans in unfamiliar and unfriendly territories to know where their allies are and where their enemies are, and what each of them is doing? How do they receive commands and report status? The answer is satellite communications. Satellite communication has a very important role in United States military throughout the space age, which began in 1946 when the Army was able to get radar contact with the moon. In 1954, the Navy began communication experiments using the moon as a reflector and by 1959 it started an operational communication link between Hawaii and Washington, D.C. As the United States space program expanded in the 1960s the Department of Defense (DOD) started developing satellite communication systems that would need the special requirements of military operations. In addition to protection against attacks, they were in need to extend service to new areas of the planet and to relocate system capacity as needed quickly. The goal of these systems is to provide communications between and to give information to military units in situations where terrestrial communication is impossible or unavailable. As satellite and communication technology improves the goal has grown so much more. Satellite images gotten from space imaging can also give you an idea of activities and what is going on in far away places like Iraq or isolated areas like for example in Afghanistan. But what are some things that can mess up satellites? Jammers, lasers, ballistic missiles, missile defense interceptors, etc.

I hope I have made it clear how important and necessary satellites are for society in our every day lives, because not only are they useful for entertainment but they are extremely vital for safety and to enrich our knowledge about the world we live in, because they are used for identifying crops warning us of storms and forecasting weather, finding natural resources, communicating with other countries and traveling. We have gotten so used to having all this technology available to us that it is hard to imagine our lives without it. Without satellites our lives would be endangered because human impact is so strong now a days that without them we would not be so aware of what is going on in the atmosphere and what factors are affecting the planet. Maybe in the future someone will come up with a satellite which won’t only help us view things that can harm the Earth but will help us solve the problem as well.

Timeline 1957- Soviet Union succeeds to launch the first orbiting Earth satellite- Sputnik 1 1958- USA fails to land human on the Moon- Pioneer 1 orbiter 1958- USA sets first communication satellite- SCORE 1959- Soviet Union succeeds to land human on the Moon- Luna 1 1962- USA succeeds to land human on the Moon- Ranger 4 1962- First satellite television signal was set from Europe to the Telstar satellite over North America. 1963- USA succeeds to launch and set geosynchronous orbit- Syncom 2 1964- USA succeeds with its photographic mission on the Moon- Ranger 7 1965- USA satellite sends the first clear pictures of Mars- Mariner 4 1967- UK launched a satellite to study VLF radiation, high altitude electron density and oxygen- Ariel 3 1971- USA satellite takes the first pictures of Mars’ moons- Mariner 9 1976- First model satellite for testing direct broadcast TV- Hermes Communications Technology satellite 1981- The first U.S. department store chain to distribute television/radio satellite dishes-Neiman-Marcus. 1990- USA/Europe launch the Hubble Space Telescope. 1993- Satellite phones hit the market. 2000- USA launched the first space storm weather satellite. 2003- Canada launches a satellite that observes the Earth’s upper atmosphere- SCISAT-1