Special delivery by satellite

Abstract

NASA's Echo 1 was an early experiment in satellite communication. Launched inside a metal sphere, it inflated in low Earth orbit into a giant Mylar balloon, 30.5 meters across. Project personnel dubbed it a “satelloon.” For four years, it circled the globe every 2 hours, reflecting radio, telephone, and TV signals between ground stations. One of its most novel uses occurred on 9 November 1960, when U.S. postmaster general Arthur Summerfield used the satellite to inaugurate Speed Mail, an attempt to propel the traditional postal network into the space age. In Summerfield's first Speed Mail letter, he urged “Mr. and Mrs. America” to post their holiday cards and presents early. That remains sound advice even in the Internet age and certainly during a global pandemic. → For more on the history of satellite mail and Echo 1, see spectrum.ieee.org/pastforward-dec2020.