Tuesday, June 14, 2022

EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM

Its often said that the Early Bird catches the worm and this phrase was used by the newly formed Communications Satellite Corporation (ComSat) to nickname its first tele-communications satellite sent into geosynchronous orbit, in order to relay TV signals across the globe. ComSat's intention was to use the facility as a 'rent-a-satellite' basis, with the facility to transmit colour and b/w programmes across the globe.

I'd been generally familiar with 'Early Bird' from a raft of space books and from the excellent Brooke Bond 'Race into Space' card set, which had Early Bird as card No 18 in the series. So when I spotted a neat little commemorative paperweight on ebay, I couldn't resist.

The object consists of a small model of the satellite embedded in a cube of perspex acrylic, with an image behind it and a decal laid on top, illustrating the signal being bounced by the satellite.
There's a minor flaw in the base of the resin, but the little model is perfect in every detail and very close to the image on the Brook Bond card too! 
Race Into Space Card No.18
Although Early Bird is quite famous for starting the satellite TV revolution, I was unaware of the turbulent nature of its flight - whereby the satellite was instrumental in aiding the apprehension of a criminal and the relaying of strong tv signals around the globe - was a great start, but the idea of renting time on the satellite became a legal quagmire, resulting in the big British corporations boycotting the service completely.
A few newspaper articles from 1965, note also the small note about the flight of the SR71 Blackbird precurser, the YF-12a, making a record breaking 200 mph flight.
Early Bird began a revolution in telecommunications and was eventually decommissioned in 1969, by which time other cheaper, more powerful satellites witnessed and relayed images of mans first moon landing.