A Motorola satellite built for the Iridium system has been added to the "Beyond the Limits" gallery at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. "Beyond the Limits" is devoted to the role of electronics and computing in aviation and space technology.
Conceived, designed and built by Motorola, the Iridium system--operated by Iridium LLC-- provides wireless, mobile communications through a network of 66 satellites in low-Earth orbits (at altitudes of between 300 and 500 miles). Inaugurated in November 1998, Iridium allows callers using hand-held mobile phones and pagers to communicate anywhere in the world--a first in the history of telephony. The system can operate as an independent phone network or in conjunction with terrestrial systems.
"In developing the first global communications network, Motorola and Iridium pioneered innovations in manufacturing, satellite launching and operations, and business organization," Martin Collins, curator in the museum's Space History Division, says. "Their achievement signals the increasing role of the private sector in advancing space technology and in providing space-based services. Commercial ventures may now play as significant a role in the development of space as government-sponsored exploration or national security programs."
The satellite, donated by Motorola Inc. in December 1998, is the only communications satellite currently on view in the Air and Space Museum. In addition to the satellite, the display includes a phone and pager for the Iridium system as well as spacecraft components. The display describes the Iridium accomplishment and provides an overview of the history of international communications via satellites and undersea cables.
The "Beyond the Limits" gallery also has been updated with an exhibit on the Global Positioning System. This display debuted in October 1998 near the museum's Einstein Planetarium.
GPS is a radio-navigation technology that uses satellites and ground equipment to determine position and time on Earth. The exhibit describes the history of this new technology, how it works and how the technology is used. It features models, photo images and GPS devices such as hand-held GPS receivers illustrating the dramatic impact GPS technology is having around the world.
The current GPS system has three basic components: ground stations that control the system, individual receivers carried by the users, and a "constellation" of 24 satellites. The technology is used in a wide variety of ways, from guiding motorists with in-car navigation systems along highways to operators of heavy equipment performing precision farming and construction; and from surveying and mapping ground locations to navigating the direction of ships at sea and planes in the sky.
The National Air and Space Museum, located at Independence Avenue and Sixth Street S.W., Washington, D.C., is open seven days a week (except Dec. 25) from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free.