I think the world distribution of satellite observers is due to communication. As part of the International Geophysical Year 1957 to 1958 three World Data Centres (WDC) were set up to gather and distribute scientific data. WDC-A was in the USA. WDC-B was in the USSR. WDC-C was in distributed in various countries of Europe, and also Japan and Australia. The Radio and Space Research Station (RSRS) Data Centre (in England) was responsible for two disciplines: Ionosphere and rockets & satellites. Each of the WDCs organised satellite observing. In the USA this the Moonwatch organisation distibuted predictions and collected observations. In Britain this was initially done by (I think) the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), but by 1961 it was done by RRS, later renamed RSRS (Radio and Space Research Station). Both of these also distributed regular newsletters, with info on new launches, satellites observed, contributions by observers etc. I do not know what Moscow provided. In the 1960s there were few computers, and they belonged to large organizations. Although it is possible to predict satellites without a computer (I did it sometimes) it is time-consuming. Therefore in practice in the 1960s almost all observers got predictions by post from one of the prediction centres. The majority of observers linked to the RSRS were in Britain, almost all the others were in Western Europe. The British Astronomical Association (BAA) had a satellite observing section: this existed largely to start people observing, and then pass them on the RSRS. In 1975 Moonwatch stopped. Around 1980 Personal Computers became available, so it was not difficult for observers to use orbit elements from newsletters (or other sources) to make their own predictions. In Britain RSRS was replaced by ESRU, then RGO, which sent out its last newsletter in 1990. So the high proportion of observers in the USA and UK is probably due to the original WDCs. In the USA when Moonwatch stopped, most observers had no easy way to get or make predictions, so I guess many found other interests. But in UK by the time RGO stopped in 1990, most observers probably had a PC, and were capable of making predictions, using orbital elements by post from GSFC: so most of them probably continued observing. In the 1990s PCs could communicate via telephone, and in 1994 Seesat started. Now in the 2000s the activities of observers and analysts appear occasionally in mainstream news, and a quick Google on words such as 'satellite' 'observing' 'Molczan' would soon lead to Seesat Heavens-above and various personal satellite watching websites. Internet and email are just what satellite watching needed. I email my observations late in the evening, observers in USA+Canada will get them before they start observing. If I make a mistake in an observation I will be told about it within 24 hours, which greatly increases my chance of correcting it. The old observers like me will mostly disappear in the next 20 years, but I am optimistic that the new generation (internet generation) of observers will take over. Mike Waterman 41814 observations (mostly positional) UK/France/Germany since 1958 March 23 _________________________________________________________________ Share what Santa brought you https://www.mycooluncool.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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