NASA Observes Eighth Anniversary OfjRosman Tracking Station
ROSMAN TRACKING STATION
•—Near Balsam Grove in the Pisgah
National Forest, the two 85-foot
antennas stand as sentinels alongside
the buildings where operators and
equipment seek out the satellite sig
nals.
OUR
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; \vould
FOREFATHERS n e v e r
[ that upper Transylvania
one day be a tremendous
part of the space age. Above is one of
the antennas at the Tracking Station
above Rosman.
News From
PM
US Forest Service,
Rainfall Discussed
I 'K •
tr" ■
m the Editor’s Corner last
week, Mr. Anderson brought up
an interesting point—and that is
the! great difference in rainfall
within a comparatively small
area.
So we thought it would be of
Interest to discuss our rainfall
readings throughout the David
son River watershed in more
detail. The reading we reported
of 31 inches (9 months) was
from the fish hatchery station.
;Only five air miles away, high
1 up -oh Shuck Ridge, there were
ft inches of rainfall during
9 months of 1971.
surprising thing is that
south of the fish hat
town of Brevard had
,j. Other readings show
Bennett Gap on the
47.4 inches; Club
Gap near the Pink Beds 43.5 in;
Cedar Rock 36.9 in.
There appears to be a dry area
in the center of the watershed
with the fish hatchery receiving
the least rainfall.
-The best answer to this is that
the warm moist air from South
Carolina is cooled enough after
going over Cedar Mountain that
we get heavy rains in the Lake
Toxaway area (80.08 in. ave.
rainfall). Since the prevailing
winds are from the southwest
the rain is pushed in a north
easterly direction.
As the rains progress toward
Asheville, the rainfall decreases.
This is substantiated by the of
ficial weather bureau figure of
36.83 in. average annual rain
fall for Asheville. Brevard re
ceives an average annual rain
fall of 62.43 inches. These fig
ures are based over a 10-year
period.
To the north along the Park
way the rainfall more resem
bles that of Brevard,, wth this
dryer trough lying between the
Parkway and Brevard - Toxaway
area.
Our records at the Cradle of
Forestry show that we had 58
rainy days there between May 1
and Sept. 30.
CARD OF THANKS
Many, many thanks to our
many friends and neighbors who
showed their deepest sympathy
during the loss of our dear be
loved wife, mother, sister and
daughter, Mrs. Peggy Anne
O’Dell. A special thanks goes
out to: Minister Don Jones and
wife, Minister Terry Angelocos
and wife, Reverend Eugene H.
Gentry and wife and Reverend
Kenneth Bragg and wife.
Buddy, Milton, Teresa
O’Dell
Mrs. Linda Lance
Mr. and Mrs. Alvin
“Diddle” Owens.
History And
Function In
The Satellite
Program Given
(Editor’s note: The follow
ing article summarizes the his
tory and complex functions of
the National Aeronautics and
-Space Administration Space
Tracking and Data Acquisition
Network (STADAN) station
near Rosman. It is our birth
day salute to an important
and appreciated government
industry in Transylvania Coun
ty-)
—☆—
October 26, 1971 marked the
eighth year of operation of the
Rosman Tracking Station^ James
C. Jackson. Director, has an
nounced. The operation of the
station began in October 1963,
with approximately 60 employ
ees and has reached a present
total employment of over 200
people. "I fully expect that fur
ther expansion will be required
during the next two years in
order to be ready for new satel
lite programs just around the
corner”, Mr. Jackson reported.
“Construction work on build
ings and antennas is nearing
completion while new equip
ment is beginning to arrive to
prepare for the next family of
Applications Technology Satel
lites.”
Headquarters At Goddard
The National Aeronautics
and Space Administration
(NASA) was established Oc
tober 1. 1958 and the Goddard
Space Flight Center in Green
belt, Maryland was organized
on May 1, 1959. The Center
was named for the late Dr.
Robert H. Goddard, recogniz
ed as the Father of American
Rocketry. He designed, de
veloped and flew the world’s
first liquid-fuel rocket.
The Goddard Space Flight
Center is one of ten field lab
oratory facilities of NASA, and
is one of several integrated
units under the direction of
NASA Headquarters, Washing
ton, D. C.
Role Of Rosman
Tracking Station
If you should visit the Ros
man Tracking Station you will
see one of the largest NASA
installations of its type in
the family of Goddard Space
Flight Center Tracking Sta
tions. The Rosman station has
the capability of “tracking”
several satellites simultane
ously.
Although “tracking" a satel
lite in the true sense is per
formed occasionally, the term
is generally applied to a number
of different functions includ
ing, in some cases, electronic
measurements made to deter
mine the satellite location. How
ever, in most cases, particularly
for satellites that have been
operational for over a few days,
the orbit-and consequently the
location - is well established.
Therefore, the primary activi
ty or “tracking” operation cen
ters around the receipt of op
erational and scientific informa
tion from each satellite, and
sending commands - or instruc
tions to-each satellite.
People Are The Key
“I have had a number of
people aak me — ‘lust what
is it that the Tracking Sta
tion does — and what kind of
people are required to track
satellites?’ ” Jackson com
ments.
“The Bosnian Tracking Station
is one of a team of similar sta
tions located in places such as
Hawaii, Alaska, Australia, Chile,
Madagascar, Bermuda and
Spain. Together these stations
and others share the responsi
bilities of continuously receiv
ing the information being gath
ered by 30 to 40 satellites —
all serving us daily in provid
ing such services as weather
forecast information or search
ing for answers to the myster
ies of our universe.
' “In one sense, the people
who work at the Tracking
Station are no different than
you might find in some other
research and operations bus
iness. Here yen will And a
variety of people skilled In
many fields — electricians,
mechanics, secretaries, engi
neers and so forth. In another
OF THE ORIGINAL 58 RCA EMPLOYEES at
NASA’S Rosman Tracking Station in October. 1963,
26 remain. Standing, from loft to right: Clarence
Brown, Robert E. Lentz, Kenneth Radford, John
E. Smith, Carlos V. Leal, William F. Martin, Donald
D. Culin, Emmett E. Owen, George H. Morris. Seat
ed, left to right: Donald Pidgeon, Syvalia M. Owen,
Thurman G. Echols, Harold H. Everson, Robert M.
Marshall, Clifton P. Moore, Albert W. Rogers, Paul
A. Patrick. Those not included in the picture are:
William T. Burbage, Charles Conrey, Clyde R.
Davis, Erik O. Hansen, Edward W. Hicks, Walter
A. Neubauer, Calvin T. Reece, William A. Reed,
John H. Wells.
sense, you will find people
who have uncommon skills
and trades associated with
the aerospace industry such as
specialists in hydraulics, com
munications, logistics, record
ing equipment, antennas, ra
dio frequency equipment and
so on. In essence, no particular
individual or small group ac
complish the objective of
tracking a satellite — rather,
the teamwork of all these
various disciplines are re
quired."
The transmittal of informa
tion to and from an unmanned
sattellite is exacting and com
plicated. Since no human is
aboard to report scientific find
ings all information must be
transmitted to and from a satel
lite on a signal from the earth
station. To accomplish this task,
tracking stations are equipped
with very sensitive “ears” or
antennas. These antennas, be
cause of their specialized mis
sions, vary in shape and size.
Some are long and slender and
some resemble giant corkscrews.
Others are big and saucer-shap
ed.
The antennas receive radio
signals as a satellite passes
overhead. Critical informa
tion may be transmitted to the
Goddard Space Flight Cen
ter immediately, but in gen
eral the signals are stored on
tape and then shipped to God
dard. There the tapes are run
through computers for inter
pretation and comparison wit’,
other data so the scientist
may know what happened in
space, where it happened, and
precisely when.
The Center, on a weekly bas
is, receives about 50 miles of
magnetic tape containing in
formation about the space en
vironment. If this information
were converted to narrative
form it would amount to approx
imately 170 million words,
enough to fill 180 encyclopedia
volumes every day.
Character Of Satellites
To Jules Verne, a space
craft was a huge aluminum
bullet fired tjoward the Moon
from a gigantic cannon buried
in Florida soil, not too far
from Cape Kennedy. In 1865,
when Verne’s “De la Terre a
la Lune” appeared, space
craft were conceived as well
appointed extensions of the
drawing room, and the gentle
men Who traveled in them
likely.as not wore top hats
and formal attire. This ro
mantic view of the space
craft persisted well into'the
Twentieth Century. To dis
tinguish these visions of fic
tion from today’s complex
space machines, we call the
former spaceships and the
latter spacecraft.
A spacecraft is any vehicle
that operates above the sensible
atmosphere; that is, above the
attainable by research balloons
and aircraft - approximately
100,000 feet of altitude.
In the first ten years of
space flight, over 600 satel
lites have circled the globe.
Even so, the sattellite has
been greatly outnumbered by
the sounding rocket, a space
craft that breaks through the
atmosphere into space for on
ly a few minutes. Although
sounding rockets do not ling
er long at high altitudes, they
have made major discoveries
in space science, such as the
existence of X-ray stars.
A satellite is a spacecraft
that has been given sufficient
velocity by its launch rocket to
be placed in orbit. Ultimately
the trace of atmosphere still
present at satellite altitudes will
slow the satellite down and
gravity will pull it back to
Earth. The distinction between
a satellite and a long range
rocket is that the satellite makes
one or more complete circuits
of the Earth.
Spacecraft, that are shot
deep into space and escapes
the gravitational pull uf the
Earth completely are called
space probes. Depending cm
the target; they are called lu
nar, planetary, and deep space
probes. Deep space probes are
placed in orbit around the
Sun to study the solar wind
and interplanetary magnetic
field. In essence they are ar
tificial planets. One of three
things may happen to a probe
launched toward the Moon or
one of the planets: (Da near
miss or fly-by, (2) injection
into orbit around the body,
or (3) impact on the surface,
with either a hard or soft
landing. Fly-by probes usual
ly go into orbit around the
Sun after planetary encount
er. Lunar probes may swing
around the Moon and settle
down to become Earth satel
lites.
Mars Exploration
Of considerable current in
terest and a good example of
the interplanetary probe is the
“Mariner 9” probei presently
nearing the completion of its
voyage to Mars.
“Although the Rosman
Tracking Station is not in
volved in supporting this
probe, we are extremely in
terested in the outcome of
the mission”, Jackson stated.
The 2,200 pound Mariner 9
spacecraft was launched on
May 30, 1971 and is planned
to transmit back to earth sci
entific data on the atmosphere
and surface and 5,000 to 6,
000 photographs for at least
90 days while orbiting Mars.
Weather Satellites
The earth satellite is the
most valuable meterological
tool contributed by the space
program. Like rockets and bal
loons, satellites carry instru
ments far above the layer of air
hugging the ground; like big
networks of stations, they af
ford a wide geographical per
spective of world weather. In
fact, no combination of surface
station networks can match the
panorama of world weather
radioed back from satellite cam
eras.
Cloud pictures - the stock
in-trade of the weather satel
lite-show the great weather
systems forming, swirling, and
dissolving against the back
drop of the oceans and con
tinents. By taking pictures of
the Earth in the infrared por
tion of the electromagnetic
spectrum, weather satellites
give the meteorologist infor
mation about the heat added
to and lost from the Earth
and its atmosphere. Since the
vast cyclones and anticyclones
that^oll across the globe are
hrfpshforeca^watiw.1Wwton
mUT
casts, but they can help sig
nificantly.
Each hurricane is created and
sustained by a colossal heat en
gine that we are just beginning
to understand. Somehow, energy
from the Sun starts these at
mospheric machines turning ov
er. The same is true for the
much bigger, but less intense
cyclones and anticyclones that
make most of our weather. Since
weather is really atmospheric
turbulence created by too much
solar heat at the equator and
too little at the poles, measure
ments of the Earth’s heat in
flow and outflow should be use
ful to meteorologists. For this
reason, most NASA weather
satellites have carried infrared
radiometers to record the ther
mal radiation emitted from
the cloud tops and the visible
land surface below the satel
lite. w
Weather satellites include
Television Infrared Observa
tion Satellites (TIROS),
TIROS Operational Satellites
(TOS), Improved TIROS Op
erational Satellite (ITOS),
and Nimbus.
In the pre-TIROS days, hur
ricanes used to sweep in from
the unpatrolled oceans and slam
into land areas with little warn
ing. Destruction and loss of
life have frequently been high;
much higher than they would
have been with ample warning
time. TIROS has changed all that
by constantly monitoring cloud
cover over the desolate reaches
of the oceans. Anyone who
watches TV news programs dur
ing the hurricane season has
seen TIROS pictures of these
intense storms and followed
their progress along the U. S.
Atlantic coasts Satellite pictures
often catch these storms in their
formative stages, showing the
prehurricane squall lines that
ring the growing nucleus. Some
times, a hurricane interacts
with a jet, stream, giving mete
orologists a ringside seat for the
battle between these two power
ful weathermakers. Without the
high vantage point of the weath
er satellite this drama would
go unseen.
Will the Boy Scout hike be
rained out tomorrow? Do the
smudge pots have to be lit
in the orange groves tonight?
This is the kind of weather in
formation that most, people
want to know; that is the lo
cal forecast, the local situa
tion. The local weather fore
caster would like very much
to see what is going on in his
area as he prepares his pre
dictions. The APT (Automatic
Picture Transmission) system
gives him local cloud pictures
with a minimum investment
in equipment.
Applications Technology .
Satellites
Mr. James E. Taylor, Assis
tant Director, describes the
“ATS” program as a means to
test in space promising tech
niques and equipment for use in
future meteorological, naviga
tion, and communication satel
lite systems.
Rosman actively supports
the three Applications Tech
nology Satellites currently in
orbit, ATS-1, ATS-3. and
ATS-5. These satellites are
synchronous, that is they or
bit the earth in the same time
period that the earth com
plets a revolution about its
axis, thus appear to be in a
fixed position with respect to
the earth. ATS-1 and ATS-3
are routinely used by the Na
tional Oceanic and Atmos
pheric Administration for
storm watch duty. ATS-1,
while being controlled by Ros
man and used for a routine
Alaskan educational com
munications experiment, con
tributed to the saving of a
life as a doctor was able to
instruct a nurse at. a remote
location to stop a hemorrhag
ing by voice relay through
the satellite. AST-5 contributes
largely in the areas of t.he
“Millimeter Wave Experi
ment" for investigation of
higher communications fre
quencies and navigational ex
periments for aircraft.
A planned addition to the se
ries, ATS-F is to be launched in
1973. Rosman is undergoing
modifications and installation at
this time in preparation for
ATS-F. Rosman will play an im
portant role in checkout of the
ATS-F before it is moved to
within view of India for edu
cational TV usage.
ATS-F will be placed.In
synchronous orbit 23,309
miles over the Pacific Ocean,
approximately over the Gal
apagos Islands, where the sa
tellite’s 30-foot-diameter de
ployable antenna and precis-'
ion control system will make
it possible to beam TV signals
direct to small TV receivers.
Government Station
Although the NASA Tracking
Station is government owned,
operation is accomplished by
contracting with industry to
provide the necessary personnel
while the director and assistant
director are NASA civil service
employees.
In 1963 RCA Service Com
pany was awarded the initial
contract for the operation and
maintenance of the Rosman
station. At the conclusion of
this contract in 1967 a subse
quent contract was awarded
to RCA which also included a
Tracking Station near Fair
banks, Alaska Spacecraft
Control Centers and Opera
tions Support groups at God
dard Space Flight Center in
Maryland. This contract cov
ered a period of five years.
The local Rosman area pay
roll and expenditures have
amounted to over 10 million dol
lars since the award of the
present contract.
When you think of prescrip
tions. think of VARNER’S, adv.
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