"I hope you didn't take it personally, Reverend," an embarrassed woman said after a church service, "when my husband walked out during your sermon."
"I did find it rather disconcerting," the preacher replied.
"It's not a reflection on you," insisted the church goer. "Ralph has been been walking in his sleep since childhood."
End of OSCAR 1In 1962, OSCAR 1, the first Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio burnt up in the Earth's atmosphere. Its orbit had decayed since its last transmission on 1 Jan 1962, having spent 312 orbits in 22 days signalling HI in Morse code for radio amateurs around the world to receive from space until its non-rechargeable battery failed. It was achieved by San Francisco Bay radio hams, most having experience working at electronics companies, who arranged for their 10-lb hand-built transmitter to be placed in orbit just above the Earth's atmosphere, carried piggyback on a rocket launched to deploy a military satellite on 12 Dec 1961. That day marked the 60th anniversary of Marconi's first transatlantic radio transmission. It was also little more than four years since Russia launched the Sputnik satellite on 31 Jan 1957.«[Image: OSCAR 1 satellite held by Frank Ginner, one of its builders.] |
