“The Oldest Functioning Satellite”
https://www.amusingplanet.com/2023/04/the-oldest-functioning-satellite.html

“The Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1, or LCS-1, is a large, hollow,
aluminum sphere with a precisely defined cross-section that has been on
Earth orbit since 1965. It is considered to be the oldest functioning
satellite even though it has no power and no electronics. This is
because, this 3 feet 8 inch diameter metal sphere is still true to its
original purpose—provide ground based radars with a target to calibrate
their instruments.”

Cool.

Lynn

Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> writes:
>“The Oldest Functioning Satellite”
>
>https://www.amusingplanet.com/2023/04/the-oldest-functioning-satellite.html
>
>“The Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1, or LCS-1, is a large, hollow,
>aluminum sphere with a precisely defined cross-section that has been on
>Earth orbit since 1965. It is considered to be the oldest functioning
>satellite even though it has no power and no electronics. This is
>because, this 3 feet 8 inch diameter metal sphere is still true to its
>original purpose—provide ground based radars with a target to calibrate
>their instruments.”

"The title of "oldest operational spacecraft" can be disputed;
for example, Vanguard 1 is an older satellite that is still "operating"
as passive atmospheric measurement probe (it can and time-to-time is
tracked from the Earth's surface using optical/radar means to study
changes in its orbit), although it can be said that Vanguard 1 no longer
operates as it was intended to, as it used to be an active satellite
and now is a derelict object in orbit. However, there are other satellites
that are still actively used and that were also initially intended to be
just passive satellites to be followed from the ground by optical or radar
means to study changes in their orbit (and thus the very high altitude
atmosphere), like Calsphere 1 and 2 (COSPAR 1964-063C, 1964-063E respectively).

So LCS-1's claim of being "oldest operational spacecraft" is dubious.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Calibration_Sphere_1

On 4/12/23 13:28, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> “The Oldest Functioning Satellite”
>
> https://www.amusingplanet.com/2023/04/the-oldest-functioning-satellite.html
>
> “The Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1, or LCS-1, is a large, hollow,
> aluminum sphere with a precisely defined cross-section that has been on
> Earth orbit since 1965. It is considered to be the oldest functioning
> satellite even though it has no power and no electronics. This is
> because, this 3 feet 8 inch diameter metal sphere is still true to its
> original purpose—provide ground based radars with a target to calibrate
> their instruments.”
>
> Cool.
>
> Lynn

I did some poking around, and there are several older satellites that
are still in orbit and many in heliocentric orbit (Luna-1 and Pioneer-4
to name a couple). Vanguard-1,2,3 are all still in orbit and launched in
1957 and 1958. The Vanguards are apparently still being used for
measurements on atmospheric drag, which was part of their original
missions. None of the Vanguards are visible, not even close.
--
Dave Scruggs
Captain, Boulder Creek Fire (Retired)
Sr. Software Engineer (Retired, mostly)

On Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 9:10:20 PM UTC-4, BCFD36 wrote:
> On 4/12/23 13:28, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > “The Oldest Functioning Satellite”
> >
> > https://www.amusingplanet.com/2023/04/the-oldest-functioning-satellite.html
> >
> > “The Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1, or LCS-1, is a large, hollow,
> > aluminum sphere with a precisely defined cross-section that has been on
> > Earth orbit since 1965. It is considered to be the oldest functioning
> > satellite even though it has no power and no electronics. This is
> > because, this 3 feet 8 inch diameter metal sphere is still true to its
> > original purpose—provide ground based radars with a target to calibrate
> > their instruments.”
> >
> > Cool.
> >
> > Lynn
> I did some poking around, and there are several older satellites that
> are still in orbit and many in heliocentric orbit (Luna-1 and Pioneer-4
> to name a couple). Vanguard-1,2,3 are all still in orbit and launched in
> 1957 and 1958. The Vanguards are apparently still being used for
> measurements on atmospheric drag, which was part of their original
> missions. None of the Vanguards are visible, not even close.

The 'Heavens Above' app suggests Vanguard 3 may be visible early
on the 14th.

Pt