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Satellite Celebrates 20 Years Working in Orbit

Posted by michael on from the retirement-age dept.

lloydwood writes "The UoSAT-2/UO-11 small satellite was launched into low Earth orbit on 1 March 1984 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Twenty years later, it's still in orbit and operational -- and we recently found launch footage. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of starting in orbit, the original video celebrating the UoSAT-2 launch is available (in windows media and mpeg). Thrill to the computers, the clothes, and the haircuts of 1984. SSTL has launched more than twenty satellites since."

3 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. Not quite as amazing as Oscar 7 by Rorschach1 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The Oscar 7 satellite was launched from the same place in 1974. It spent about 20 years dead in space after its batteries shorted, before it started working again out of the blue.

    Incidentally, that launch pad is about 3 miles from where I'm sitting. I can see it if I climb up on the antenna tower on the roof, but management got mad last time I did that to watch a launch.

  2. Re:FIRST POST! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting


    I must post this anonymously.

    I was a junior engineer on the UoSAT-2/UO-11 project. Early into the project a group of military people visited us. We were asked various odd questions. This exchange in particular remains strong in my memory:
    Military Man: Can we mount a laser into this satellite?
    My Boss: No way, that'd require a lot of reenforcement of the tube chamber (back then we didn't have solid state).
    Military Man: You could compensate with more fuel for launch. I'll approve it myself.
    My Boss: But.. a laser? What size are you talking about and for what?
    Military Man: [leans to assistant, whispers back and forth] We can tell you but your juniors [myself and 2 co-workers] will have to leave. [we did]

    my boss left the project immediately and worked on a secret payload project overseen by the military. Whatever that bird has in it, it's looking down at us.

  3. 20 years is nothing. by Gavin+Scott · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What about the amazing story of the Amateur Radio satallite Ostcar 7 that was launched in 1974, operated for six years, then died due to a shorted battery, only to re-awaken from the dead in 2002 after 21 years of silence.

    So we have satellites that work after having been dead longer than your satellites have been alive.

    Nyeah.

    G.