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    On This Day in Tech History

    Stories Published April 6 Throughout History

    2024

    Historic Tech Events

    Pioneer 11 launches

    Pioneer 11 launches
    1973

    Pioneer 11 is a NASA robotic space probe that was launched with the goal of examining the asteroid belt, the environments around Jupiter and Saturn, solar winds, and cosmic rays.  It was the second probe to pass through the asteroid belt, the second to fly by Jupiter, and the first to encounter Saturn. The last routine communication with the spacecraft occurred on September 30, 1995, and the last useful engineering data was received on November 24, 1995, both due to power limitations and the probe's great distance from Earth.

    Launch of Early Bird Satellite

    Launch of Early Bird Satellite
    1965

    Intelsat I (Early Bird), the first commercial communications satellite, was launched into geosynchronous orbit. It was created by Hughes Aircraft Company's Space and Communications Group for COMSAT, which turned it on on June 28, 1965. In December 1965, it assisted in providing the first live TV broadcast of a spacecraft splashdown, which involved Gemini 6. The Early Bird satellite, which handled television, telephone, and telefax transmissions, was the first to establish direct and practically instantaneous communication between Europe and North America. It weighed 34.5 kg and was only around 76 cm by 61 cm (2.5 feet by 2.0 feet) in size (76 lb). One of the satellites utilized in the Our World broadcast, which set a record at the time, was Early Bird.

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