Project West Ford

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Project West Ford (also known as Westford Needles and Project Needles) was a test carried out by Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory on behalf of the United States military in 1961 and 1963 to create a ring of 3.5×108[1] copper dipole antennas (1.78cm long and 25.4μm (1961) and 17.8μm (1963) diameter needles)[1][2] in orbit which would allow global radio communication. The dipoles collectively provided passive support to Project West Ford's parabolic dish (located in the town of Westford) to communicate with distant sites.

After a failed first attempt launched on October 21, 1961[2] (the needles failed to disperse), the project was eventually successful with the May 9, 1963[2] launch, with radio transmissions carried by the man-made ring. However, the technology was ultimately shelved, partially due to the development of the modern communications satellite and partially due to protests from other scientists.[3] The needles were placed in orbits between 3500 and 3800 km high at 96 and 87 degree inclinations and contributed to Earth's orbital debris.[4] British radio astronomers, together with optical astronomers and the Royal Astronomical Society, protested this action.[5][6][7] The Russian communist paper Pravda also joined the protests under the headline U.S.A. Dirties Space.[8] The issue was raised in the United Nations where then UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson defended the project.[9] Stevenson studied the published journal articles on Project West Ford. Using what he learned on the subject and citing the articles he had read, he successfully allayed the fears exhibited by the vast majority of UN ambassadors from other countries. He and the articles explained that sunlight pressure would cause the dipoles to only remain in orbit for a short period of approximately three years. The international protest ultimately resulted in a consultation provision included in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.[5] Contrary to the project's supporter's claims, as of 2008, several clumps of the needles are still in orbit,[10] and occasionally re-entering.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Lovell, A. C. B.; Blackwell, M. Ryle; D. E. & Wilson, R. (June 1962), “West Ford Project, Interference to Astronomy from Belts of Orbiting Dipoles (Needles)”, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 3: 100, <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1962QJRAS...3..100L> 
  2. ^ a b c Wiedemann, C.; Bendisch, J.; Krag, H.; Wegener, P. & Rex, D. (March 19-21, 2001), written at Darmstadt, Germany, Sawaya-Lacoste, Huguette, ed., “Modeling of copper needle clusters from the West Ford Dipole experiments”, Proceedings of the Third European Conference on Space Debris (Noordwijk, Netherlands: ESA Publications Division) 1: 315 - 320, October 2001, ISBN 92-9092-733-X, <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001ESASP.473..315W> 
  3. ^ Kendall, Anthony (May 2, 2006). Earth's Artificial Ring: Project West Ford. DamnInteresting.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-16.
  4. ^ “Position Paper on Space Debris Mitigation - Implementing Zero Debris Creation Zones”, International Academy of Astronautics (Paris, France: International Academy of Astronautics), October 12, 2005 October 15, 2005, <http://iaaweb.org/iaa/Studies/spacedebrismitigation.pdf> 
  5. ^ a b Terrill Jr., Delbert R. (May 1999), Project West Ford, “The Air Force Role in Developing International Outer Space Law”, Air Force History and Museums Program (Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press): 63, <http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/space/terrill.pdf> 
  6. ^ Butrica, Andrew J., ed., “Introduction”, Beyond the Ionosphere: The Development of Satellite Communications, The NASA History Series, NASA, <http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4217/intro.htm> 
  7. ^ Bondi, H. (June 1962), “West Ford Project, Introductory Note by the Secretary”, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 3: 99, <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1962QJRAS...3...99.> 
  8. ^ “Protests Continue Abroad”, The New York Times (London: Reuters): 12, October 22, 1961 October 23, 1961, ISSN 1674510 
  9. ^ Teltsch, Kathleen (June 15, 1963), “6 Soviet Space Failures Believed To Have Been Probes of Planets”, The New York Times (United Nations, NY): 2, June 16, 1963, ISSN 1521970 
  10. ^ Hall, Christopher D. (September 18, 2003), West Ford dipoles, Blacksburg, Virginia: Virginia Tech Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, <http://web.archive.org/web/20070312200131/http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~cdhall/Space/archives/000289.html> 
  11. ^ Barhorst, L.J.C., ed. (January 20, 2008), written at Medemblik, The Netherlands, RAE Table of Earth Satellites, Farnborough, England: Royal Aerospace Establishment / Defence Research Agency, p. 34, <http://satlist.nl/RAE/RAE1963.doc> 

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