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Following the failure of the Delta rocket carrying Echo 1 on May 13, 1960, Echo 1A (commonly referred to as just Echo 1) was successfully put in a 1519 x 1687 km orbit on August 12, 1960. The 30.5 meter (100 foot) diameter balloon was made of 0.0127 mm (0.005 inch) thick Mylar polyester film and was successfully used to redirect transcontinental and intercontinental telephone, radio, and television signals. The satellite also aided the calculation of atmospheric density and solar pressure due to its large area-to-mass ratio. As its shiny surface was also reflective in the range of visible light, Echo 1A was visible to the unaided eye over most of the Earth. Brighter than most stars, it was probably seen by more people than any other man-made object in space. Echo 1A reentered Earth's atmosphere and burned up on May 24, 1968.
Echo 2, a 41.1 m diameter mylar balloon with an improved inflation system to improve the balloon's smoothness and sphericity, was launched January 25January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 340 days remaining (341 in leap years). Events 1327 Edward III becomes King of England. 1494 Alfonso II becomes King of Naples. 1533 Henry VIII of England marries his second wife, 1964Events January January 1 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. January 3 Senator Barry Goldwater announces that he will seek the Republican nomination for President. January 5 In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Ort on a ThorThor or (ON), Thunor (OE), Donar or Donner (German) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder and lightning in Germanic and Norse Mythology, the son of Odin and Jord. While Odin is the god of the powerful and aristocratic, Thor is much more the god of AgenaFor the Agena star, see Hadar. The Agena was a rocket upper stage developed by Lockheed for the ill-fated WS-117L US reconnaissance satellite program. It lived on to see extensive use as the upper stage/spacecraft for the Corona spy satellite program and rocket. It was used for more passive communications experiments, and also to investigate the dynamics of large spacecraft and for global geometric geodesyGeodesy also called geodetics is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the earth, its gravitational field and geodynamic phenomena (polar motion, earth tides, and crustal motion) in three-dimensional time varying. NASA abandoned passive communications systems in favor of active satellites following Echo 2. Echo 2 reentered on June 7June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. Events 1099 Beginning of Siege of Jerusalem (1099) 1494 Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas which divides the New World between the, 1969For other uses, see Number 1969. For the movie, see 1969 (movie). Events January January 1 Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch purchases the largest selling British Sunday newspaper The News Of The World January 5 The Derry Riots leave over 100 people i.