John R. Pierce
_Executive Director, Research,
Communications Principles and Communications Systems
Bell Telephone Laboratories_
When I first talked about the possibilities and advantages of
communications satellites to the Princeton Section of the Institute of
Radio Engineers on the evening of October 14, 1954, I was diligent in my
analysis and enthusiastic in my presentation but, I must confess, a
little skeptical as to whether or not anything would come of the idea.
Still, others and I at Bell Laboratories remained interested, and, after
the launching of Sputnik I on November 3, 1957, and of Explorer I on
January 31, 1958, we worked actively toward satellite communications
experiments. This led to our work with Echo I (launched August 12, 1960)
and finally to the launching on July 10, 1962, of Telstar I—that
satellite which became, in the words of Queen Elizabeth, “the invisible
focus of a million eyes.”
This work on communications satellites has been a grand exploration and
opening up of a hitherto dark continent of science and technology. My
courageous friends at Bell Laboratories encountered therein surprising
difficulties and perplexing problems which I had never dreamed of, and
these intrepid and indefatigable adventurers grappled with them and
mastered them all.
Now you, who have in your own homes seen pictures transmitted across the
ocean by satellite, can learn first hand from the men who worked on hard
and varied technical problems just what these problems were and how they
were solved. And, by reading you can find out what sort of knowledge,
training, and habits you yourself will need if you wish some day to
adventure into those undiscovered or unexplored fields of technology
which will be new and exciting when Telstar has become old hat.