The U.S. Starlink program has sparked global controversy, which is a matter of 4A communication network with 20,000 satellites covering the Earth, replacing traditional ground facilities.
As soon as this plan came out, the whole world was shocked and thought that it was a kind of madness of the United States.
In fact, this is not the first time that the United States has done such a thing, they used to have an even more crazy plan, which is to launch more than 400 million copper needles into space to form a metal cloud, this plan is called "West Ford Project", and the Starlink plan is just an upgraded version of it.
Why did the U.S. do the West Ford Plan? How is this plan now? What are the implications?
After the end of World War II, Britain's empire began to decline, and the United States' military and economic power rose rapidly, becoming the most powerful capitalist country in the world.
On the other hand, the Soviet Union's influence in Eastern Europe and Europe continued to expand, and its strength should not be underestimated.
The capitalist camp led by the United States and the socialist camp led by the Soviet Union confronted each other, the two different ideological systems of capitalism and socialism were incompatible with each other, and the contradictions between the United States and the Soviet Union deepened day by day.
On March 5, 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain Speech" during his visit to the United States, in which he made a comprehensive attack on the Soviet Union and called on the United States and Britain to join forces to achieve true democracy.
After Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union officially began.
The two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, competed for influence on a global scale and expanded their sphere of influence through various means such as the arms race and the space race, while mankind's science and technology have also developed unprecedentedly.
Aerospace technology is a sign of high technology and a sign of a country's strength, and the United States and the Soviet Union have launched fierce competition in this field.
In August 1955, the Soviet Union announced that it would launch an artificial satellite shortly after. Not to be outdone, the United States has also said that it will launch artificial satellites into space.
However, the biggest headache for the United States is not the competition in satellite launches, but long-range communications.
At that time, long-range communication facilities in the United States mainly relied on submarine cables and the ionosphere, both of which had significant drawbacks.
Ionospheric reflection radio communications are not very stable and are easily affected by weather. And the risk of submarine cables is also very high, once cut by the Soviet Union, overseas troops will lose contact with the command center.
On October 4, 1957, the first shot of the space race, the Soviet Union successfully launched the first artificial satellite in human history, Sputnik 1.
Faced with double pressure, the United States urgently needs a stable method of long-range communication, which prompts the United States to make a crazy decision. By launching more than 400 million copper needles into space orbit, an ultra-long-range communications network was built, a plan named "Project Westford".
In January 1958, when the Americans were anxious about finding new ways to communicate over long distances, radio expert Harold Meyer came up with a brilliant idea.
Harold Meyer is an expert in the field of radio, and he works for Ramo Woodridge, a newcomer in the field of radio.
In just five years, they have made remarkable achievements in radio communication equipment, missile control devices, and guidance methods.
Harold Meyer suddenly thought that the need for long-range communication could be realized by launching objects into orbit into space. It's a great idea, but it's a matter of trial and error.
To test the idea, he sought out his friend Walter Morrow at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. Dr. Morrow was good at calculations, and the two hit it off and began researching the feasibility of the idea.
The original idea was to artificially create a "metal-reflective cloud" in space that would circle the Earth like Saturn's rings and meet the radio communication needs of any region. But what material is used to make this metal reflective ring?
In this regard, the Lincoln Laboratory gave a satisfactory answer, that is, long 178 cm, diameter 254 micron copper dipole antenna. The copper dipole antenna, also known as the Syford needle, is similar in shape to a tiny needle, but thinner than a human hair.
In 1960, the United States officially decided to start studying the possibility of space communications, and more than 30 top scientists gathered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but after several hours of discussion, there was no feasible plan.
At this time, Dr. Morrow stood up and said that Lincoln Lab could completely solve this problem, and just when everyone present thought that Dr. Morrow was talking nonsense, Dr. Morrow took out a few copper needles as thin as hair.
The next Dr. Morrow's plan is even more shocking, he wants to put up to 4300 million copper needles are launched into orbit, and these copper needles form a star ring around the Earth.
The star ring formed by this copper needle can be reflected to the ground base station after receiving electromagnetic waves, and as long as the ground base station is equipped with decoding equipment to interpret the signal, it can realize long-distance transmission of information.
With the guarantee of the Lincoln Laboratory, the United States quickly approved the plan and selected the small town of West Ford, Massachusetts as the experimental base, so this plan is also known as the West Ford Plan.
On October 21, 1961, the first test of the West Ford program was conducted. It is a pity that the first time failed, and instead of successfully sending hundreds of millions of copper needles to the intended orbit, they were affected by solar storms and did not form star rings.
Lincoln Lab had never suffered such a setback since its inception, but under pressure from all sides, they decided to try again.
Two years later, on May 9, the second launch was successful, with hundreds of millions of Sifort needles evenly distributed over an area between 3,500 and 3,800 kilometers altitude, forming a metallic reflective cloud ring.
After testing, the West Ford Needle Ring was indeed capable of transmitting signals, and the transmission speed reached 20,000 bits, which can be said to be the most advanced transmission speed at that time.
However, accidents always come faster than planned, and the artificial metal reflection ring is not stable, and after about three months, it gradually spreads out, and the transmission speed becomes slower and slower. And this plan was also discovered by some astronomy enthusiasts.