Oct 27 1985
From The Space Library
Engineers with Hughes Communications Inc., owner of the Syncom 3 communications satellite, sent at 11:53 a.m. today from the company's Guam ground station a radio command to fire the marooned satellite's rocket booster, causing the satellite's ICBM-type rocket motor to fire for 64 seconds as planned, the Washington Times reported. The undertaking capped the most ambitious space salvage effort ever attempted, the Times said, a two-day effort in August by two astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery (see Satellites Apr 22 and Aug 31). The engineers fired the rocket without knowing whether it would blow up or work properly after months exposed to freezing temperatures.
We really nailed it,” said Albert Wheelon, president of the Hughes space communications group. “We'll have it in synchronous orbit round about the first of November and then we still have 30 days of checking out the radio equipment and all the systems.” Insurance underwriters stood to recoup 85% of the insured cost of the satellite, a boost for an industry that had lost more than $600 million in the past 20 months because of seven satellite failures including Syncom 3. (W Times, Oct 28/85, 3A)
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