In the shadow of the Cold War, the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, engaged in fierce competition in various fields, with the space race being particularly eye-catching. In order to gain an edge in this race, the United States has implemented a series of jaw-dropping programs, one of which is the West Ford program.
Origins of the West Ford Plan.
In the 50s of the 20th century, the United States was faced with the problem of long-distance communication. Ionospheric reflection radiocommunication has poor stability and is susceptible to weather; Submarine cables, on the other hand, were at risk of being cut by the Soviet Union. To solve this problem, American radio expert Harold Meyer proposed a bold idea: to launch hundreds of millions of copper needles into space to form a ring of metal-reflecting clouds around the Earth to enable communication over ultra-long distances. This idea was supported by the US side and its implementation began.
Implementation of plans and setbacks.
In 1961, the United States made its first launch attempt in the small town of West Ford, but due to the effects of solar storms, hundreds of millions of copper pins did not form the expected metal-reflecting cloud ring. However, the United States did not abandon this plan, and two years later the launch was carried out again. The launch was a success, forming a ring of metallic reflective clouds capable of transmitting signals. However, the ring was unstable and gradually broke down after only three months, and the transmission speed became slower and slower.
The response of the international community and the birth of the Space Constitution.
The implementation of the West Ford plan has attracted wide attention and strong repercussions from the international community. Countries such as the Soviet Union accused the United States of militarizing space and seriously disrupting the radio communications environment of other countries. Under international pressure, the United States had to respond. Eventually, at the 1967 Conference of Space Technology Representatives, the United States and other countries developed the Space Constitution, which clearly stipulates that no country can claim sovereignty over outer space and prohibits the use of space for military purposes.
The legacy of Project West Ford and Project Starlink.
Although the West Ford program is history, its legacy has had a profound impact on space exploration today. In fact, the Starlink program in the United States can be considered as the 2Version 0. Similar to the West Ford program, the Starlink program also aims to achieve global communication coverage by launching a large number of satellites. The difference is that the Starlink project uses satellites instead of copper pins, and the technology is more advanced and mature.
However, like the West Ford program, the Starlink program has faced many controversies and challenges. On the one hand, the launch of a large number of satellites may occupy the resources of the earth's orbit and interfere with the space exploration of other countries. On the other hand, the militarization of the Starlink program has also caused concern in the international community. Therefore, in future space exploration, countries need to be more careful in the use and allocation of space resources to avoid repeating the mistakes of the West Ford plan. Project STARL