Satellites

Satellites 1

Presented by Steven Cornelius December 11,2009

Table of Contents
Definition of Satellites
Components of a Satellite
History
Evolution
Uses of Satellites
Environmental Impact
Summary and Conclusion
References
Questions

What is a Satellite
By definition a Satellite is anything that orbits around a planet in a circular or elliptical path

What is a Satellite
The moon is the earths first and largest satellite. It serves many purposes such as regulating the tides and providing reflective light to earth.

Components of a Satellite
With varying shapes and sizes, all satellites have a few things in common
Power supply, can consist of solar panels and batteries, fuel cells, or in some cases nuclear power
A computer system to run its functions
A radio system, to communicate with ground control
Altitude Control system, the ACS allows the satellite to maintain a position in space

History This is Sputnik. It was a 58cm 83 kg aluminum ball launched into earth orbit from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on an R-7/Semiorka rocket by the USSR on October 4, 1957 It contained A battery A thermometer A radio transmitter Sputnik was filled with pressurized nitrogen gas, had 4 antennas which sent information back via short-wave frequency and only lasted 92 days in space.

History
The first successful U.S. satellite, Explorer I, was launched into Earth orbit by the Army on Jan. 31, 1958, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, four months after Russia orbited Sputnik. The 8.1 kg satellite had a cylindrical shape and was 80 inches long and six inches in diameter.
Explorer I's small package of instruments produced the first major discovery of the Space Age—The Van Allen radiation belts surrounding the Earth. Explorer I burned up in the atmosphere on March 30, 1970.

History
September 29 Canada becomes the third country to have a satellite in space, after Russia and the U.S. We successfully launch the science satellite Alouette 1 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, at an altitude of 1000 km. Designed with a one-year lifetime, it transmits useful data for over 10 years. It studies the ionosphere, the electrically-charged layer of the upper atmosphere that can affect long-distance radio transmission. Alouette 2 is launched on November 29, 1965.

Evolution of the Satellite
Partially due to the Cold War and the American need to be First, Spunik launched the space age
From humble beginnings to the multi million dollar technical marvels of today
Cdn Radarsat

Since the 1960’s the US military has been sending satellites into space
The US military has pioneered most uses of satellites other than science (GPS, communication, Imaging)
1962 AT&T sent the first commercial satellite into orbit
The first N.A. satellite to carry TV was Canada’s Anik1 in 1972
The first commercial GPS satellite was launched in 1989

Since these early satellites, thousands more have been launched. There are limited details on the costs of the pioneering models but current satellites can cost up to a Billion dollars

Japanese satellite Akebono

Uses of Satellites
The most common purposes for satellites are for weather monitoring, GPS, communications and science
Within communications, satellites transmit broadcast signals, data, and telephony

There are millions of man made objects orbiting the earth
Of those millions, 25 thousand or so are considered space junk
All of the objects are traveling at thousands of Km/hr with varying orbits
If they are they are not being controlled eventually they will impact something

Space junk have varying degree of toxicity due to the materials they were made with and materials they carried
Many objects burn up when they re-enter earths atmosphere, but if they are large enough they can make it to the surface

As technology goes satellites have advanced our lives in so many ways
We can track major storms around the globe
We can get instant video footage of event around the world
We can communicate with almost anyone almost anywhere around the world

The downside is that we have just have a new place where pollution is going unchecked
The carelessness of the early years will eventually will be problems of the future
Maybe there will be a day where we cannot safely launch a spacecraft into orbit for fear of a collision with space junk.

Image Resources
www.netaxs.com, The Moon As seen from the Northern Hemisphere , Michael Myers
http://z.about.com/d/space/1/0/X/e/gpn-2000-001138.jpg
www.satsig.net ,Opus 2 Satellite
www.photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08002
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/satellite1.jpg
http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/environment/seaice/sar_satellite.jpg
www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/
www. how
www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/sms.asp
www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php

References
www.howstuffworks.com/satellite.htm, How Stuff works, How Satellelites work, Gary Brown
www.infoplease.com , Health and Science/ Space Exploration, First U.S. Satelite
www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/alouette.asp
www.space.com , Space Junk Threatens Orbiting Satellites, Jonathan Lipman, August 25 1999

Thank You
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Satellites

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Satellites Presentation Transcript