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U. S. Air Force Aerospace Defense Command’s
(ADC) USAF SPACETRACK radar near the New
Jersey Turnpike draws startling reactions from motor
ists. From the floor of the building it rests on, the top
of the dome is 13 stories high. The rigid dome, con
structed of 1,646 plastic panels, can withstand winds
How Apollo 7 Dodges
1,300 Space Objects
Directing Space Traffic.
"Apollo Seven, this is mission
control. You have a Cosmos 243
approaching you at three o’clock
in approximately one minute.
Request you obtain full camera
coverage.”
“RRRoger mission control.
This is Apollo Seven and we
have made visual contract. Ca
mera coverage beginning now.
Approaching at extremely high
rate of speed. We’ll advise you
on rendezvous.”
This type of conversation has
become familiar to every Am
erican who has followed a space
launch.
Years of research and dedica
tion by thousands of ”behind-the
scenes” personnel often go un
noticed at the huge rockets fling
their manned capsule payloads
into orbit.
One of these unknown groups
of men directs the USAF Space
track System. It operates under
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Aerospace Defense Command’s
(ADC) 14th Aerospace Force,
and has tracking sites scattered
throughout the world.
Since before the first launch of
Sputnik I in 1957, the Air Force
has been concerned with iden
tifying and cataloging all man
made objects orbiting the ear
th. On Oct. 4, 1957, a Baker-Nunn
camera, now a part of the USAF
Spacetrack system, photogra
phed the Russian satellite Sput
nik I. That event in itself is or
dinary by today’s standards of
space surveillance.
But in 1957, that first photogra
ph was taken on the same day
as the Sputnik I launch!
The USAF Spacetrack system
is responsible for the detecting,
tracking, and identifying of the
man-made objects in space.
Apollo astronauts tip their hel
mets to ADC and USAF Space
track for a very special reason.
up to 140 miles per hour. The 135 personnel who
operate the USAF SPACETRACK center are respon
sible for deleting satellites and spacecrafe debris.
ADC is a major component of the North American
Air Defense Command (NORAD).
(U. S. AIR FORCE PHOTO)
During their 11-day flight, all
space objects are monitored by
USAF Spacetrack with informa
tion fed to the North American
Air Defense Command (NORAD)
Space Defense Center (SDC) in
Cheyenne Mountain near Color
ado Springs, Colo.
These ADC ‘traffic patrolmen”
of space keep track of more than
1,300 pieces of orbiting material
in space. Using sophisticated
USAF Spacetrack gear, they
notify the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NSA
SA), managers of the Apollo,
that the astronauts will soon be
passing another satellite.
These satellites, Including some
“space junk”, sometimes pass
the Apollo capsule at speeds up
to 25,000 mph. However, with
timely Space Defense Center gui
dance, NASA can position the
capsule away from any possible
collision.
Although there are approxima
tely 1,300 man-made objects in
space, the Space Defense Cen
ter has predicted the chances of
collision with the Apollo capsule
to be extremely remote. How
ever, the chances of a visual si
ghting are quite good.
Air Force Major Dick Cable,
an Orbital Analyst with the Sp
ace Defense Center, works with
computers to determine the ex
act position of all satellites.
“These 1,300 objects circling the
earth make about 15 revolutions
daily. That means that each day
the astronauts are in orbit, they
are faced with 20,000 possible
crossings.”
Principal USAF Spacetrack
radar sites are located at Shem
ya, Aik.; Moorestown, N.J.; and
Trinidad, British West Indies.
These radar sites might star-
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