The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

Early Bird (communications satellite)
Also known as Intelsat 1, the first operational geostationary
communications satellite. It was launched in
1965 and provided 240 telephone channels from its station
over the Atlantic at a time when transatlantic cables
provided only 412 channels.
Early Bird (Earth resources satellite)
A commercial Earth resources and reconnaissance satellite
owned by EarthWatch of Longmont, Colorado.
Images from Early Bird—the world’s first private “spy”
satellite—were to have shown detail as small as three
meters across and been available to anyone for a fee of a
few hundred dollars. However, contact with the spacecraft
was lost shortly after launch.
Launch
Date: December 24, 1997
Vehicle: Start 1
Site: Svobodny, Russia
Orbit: 479 × 488 km × 97.3°
early warning (EW) satellites
Military spacecraft used to detect the launch of missiles
and rockets from Earth’s surface. Information from these
satellites is used to track the long-term patterns of foreign
nations’ space programs and would provide first alert of
the start of a major missile attack.
Earth Probes
A NASA program that complements EOS (Earth
Observing System). Earth Probes are specific, highly
focused missions that investigate processes requiring special
orbits or short development cycles of one to three
years. Within this program are the ESSP (Earth System
Science Pathfinder) missions, the UnESS (University
Earth Systems Science) program, and various specialized
Earth-observing projects such as TOMS (Total Ozone
Mapping Spectrometer), Triana, and SRTM (Shuttle
Radar Topography Mission).
Earth Received Time (ERT)
The time at which an event that has occurred on a spacecraft
will be seen on Earth. It corresponds to spacecraft
E
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event time plus one-way light time and does not include
any delay in signal processing once the signal has reached
the ground.
Earth resources satellites
Spacecraft that collect information about Earth’s atmosphere,
land, and oceans for scientific research and
resource management.
Earth station
Equipment on Earth that can transmit or receive satellite
communications, though generally the term refers to
receive-only stations. An Earth station usually contains a
combination of antenna, low noise amplifier, downconverter,
and receiver electronics.
Earth-orbit rendezvous
A means of accomplishing a mission that involves rendezvous
and docking, fueling, or transfer in an Earth
parking orbit. It was one of the approaches considered
for the Apollo program. 139
Earth-stabilized satellites
Satellites whose axes maintain a constant relationship to
Earth’s center, though not to any fixed spot on the surface.
Eastern Space and Missile Center (ESMC)
An American military launch facility located on the east
coast of Florida. Operated by the 45th Space Wing of the
Air Force Space Command, it includes Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station, where most of the launch pads are
located, Patrick Air Force Base, where the headquarters
is, and the Eastern Test Range and other supporting
facilities in east central Florida.
Eastern Test Range
The Eastern Test Range extends more than 16,000 km
from Cape Canaveral across the Atlantic Ocean and
Africa into the Indian Ocean and includes tracking stations
on Antigua and Ascension Island.
eccentric orbit
A highly elliptical orbit with a high apogee and a low
perigee.