Tag: satellite

The Captain Midnight Broadcast Signal Intrusion

History, Technology, Thoughts and Rants
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Early in the morning on April 27th, 1986, the East Coast broadcast feed for the television station HBO was interrupted by a mysterious message, consisting of a standard color test pattern and a somewhat politely worded warning message: GOODEVENING HBO FROM CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT $12.95/MONTH  ? NO WAY ! [SHOWTIME/MOVIE CHANNEL BEWARE!] It’s quite the complex […]

The Sputnik Moment

History, Space
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The story of Sputnik 1 is far more than just a simple satellite going into orbit. When Sputnik 1 launched in October of 1957, the United States was caught by absolute surprise. How could the Soviets beat the Americans into putting up an artificial Satellite? What did this mean they could do next? What would […]