radar antenna. At the height of the
Cold War, all international communications were either sent through
submarine communications cables or bounced off the natural
ionosphere. The United States military was concerned that the
Soviets might cut those cables, forcing the unpredictable ionosphere to be the only means of communication with overseas forces.
copper dipole antennas in orbit to facilitate global
radio communication. The dipoles collectively provided passive support to
Westford Radio Telescope (located at the
Haystack Observatory in the
town of Westford) to communicate with distant sites. The needles used in the experiment were long and [1961] or [1963] in diameter. The length was chosen because it was half the
wavelength of the 8
GHz signal used in the study. The project was eventually successful with the 9 May 1963 British radio astronomers, optical astronomers, and the
Royal Astronomical Society protested the experiment. At the time, the issue was raised in the
United Nations where the then United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Adlai Stevenson defended the project. Stevenson studied the published journal articles on Project West Ford. Using what he learned on the subject and citing the articles he had read, he successfully allayed the fears of most UN ambassadors from other countries. He and the articles explained that
sunlight pressure would cause the dipoles to only remain in
orbit for a short period of approximately three years. The international protest ultimately resulted in a consultation provision included in the 1967
Outer Space Treaty. Their numbers have been diminishing over time as they occasionally re-enter. , 44 clumps of needles larger than 10 cm were still known to be in orbit. == Launches ==