Project Echo Milestone Dedication Event at the future "Robert Wilson Park"
Project Echo, Telstar, and Discovery of Cosmic Background Radiation, 1959-1965
In 1959-1960, NASA and AT&T developed a satellite Earth station in Holmdel, NJ, including a novel tracking horn-reflector antenna, maser preamplifier, and FM demodulator. The Earth station demonstrated the first high-quality long-distance voice circuit via the Echo passive communication satellite in 1960-1961, and via the active Telstar communications satellite in 1962-1963. Experiments conducted in 1964-1965 provided the first indication of the cosmic background radiation associated with the Big Bang.
WHAT IS THE “HOLMDEL HORN ANTENNA”?
The Holmdel Horn Antenna is a large microwave (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_antenna) that was used as a (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_communication) antenna and (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_telescope) at the (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Telephone_Laboratories) facility located on (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawford_Hill) in (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmdel_Township,_New_Jersey), United States.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmdel_Horn_Antenna#cite_note-Crawford-5) It was designated a (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Historic_Landmark) in 1989 because of its association with the research work of two (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_astronomer), (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arno_Penzias) and (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Woodrow_Wilson).
In 1965, while using this antenna, Penzias and Wilson discovered the (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_microwave_background_radiation) (CMBR) that permeates the universe. This was one of the most important discoveries in (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_cosmology) Since (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble) demonstrated in the 1920s that the universe was expanding. It provided the evidence that confirmed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gamow)'s and (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre)'s "(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang)" theory of the creation of the universe. This helped change the science of cosmology, the study of the universe's history, from a field for unlimited theoretical speculation into a discipline of direct observation. In 1978 Penzias and Wilson received the (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_for_Physics) for their discovery. The (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_antenna) at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey, was constructed on (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawford_Hill) in 1959 to support (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Echo), the (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Aeronautics_and_Space_Administration)'s passive communications satellites, which used large aluminized plastic balloons ((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_balloon)) as reflectors to bounce radio signals from one point on the Earth to another.
Agenda:
Crawford Hill Picnic: 11 AM – 2 PM
Project Echo Milestone Dedication: 2-4 PM
791 Holmdel Road, Holmdel, New Jersey, United States, 07733