 |
| Project Score launch cover with Goldcraft cachet. SCORE (Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment) was the world's first purpose-built communications satellite. |
On December 18, 1958, an Atlas was used to launch the Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment (SCORE) satellite, which was "the first prototype of a communications satellite, and the first test of any satellite for direct practical applications." The communications payload was placed into low Earth orbit on Atlas serial number 10B without an upper stage. Atlas 10B/SCORE, at 8,750 lb (3,970 kg) was the heaviest artificial object then in orbit, the first voice relay satellite, and the first human-made object in space easily visible to the naked eye due to the large, mirror-polished stainless steel tank. This was the first flight in what would be a long career for the Atlas as a satellite launcher.
 |
Photo: "America's mightiest satellite, the Atlas, 12/19 relayed from space a dramatic Christmas message by Pres. Eisenhower calling for peace on earth. The broadcast of the pre-recorded message was received by a tracking station at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and piped from the Cape through the Pentagon to the White House for the President to hear. Afterwards, for the benefit of photographers, the President is shown as he listens to a tape recording of his voice in Press Secy Hagerty's office. UPI TELEPHOTO"
|
(Reference from
SCORE (satellite))
