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

FORTE (Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient
Events)
A U.S. Air Force satellite, built by the Los Alamos
National Laboratory to study natural and artificial radio
emissions from the ionosphere—information needed to
develop technology for monitoring nuclear test ban
treaties.
Launch
Date: August 29, 1997
Vehicle: Pegasus XL
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base
Orbit: 799 × 833 km × 70.0°
Forward, Robert L(ull) (1932–)
A science consultant, writer, and futurist specializing in
studies of exotic physical phenomena and future space
exploration with an emphasis on advanced space propulsion.
Forward earned a B.S. in physics from the University
of Maryland (1954), an M.S. in applied physics from
the University of California, Los Angeles (1958), and a
Ph.D. in gravitational physics from the University of
Maryland (1965). He worked at the Hughes Aircraft
Research Labs (1956–1987) before forming his own company,
Forward Unlimited. From 1983 to the present, Forward
has had a series of contracts from the Department
of Defense and NASA to explore new energy sources and
propulsion concepts that could produce breakthroughs
in space power and propulsion. In 1994, he formed Tethers
Unlimited with Robert P. Hoyt to develop and market
a new multiline space tether.
Foton
A series of recoverable microgravity science satellites
based on Zenit-class Soviet spy spacecraft of the type that
also served as Gagarin’s Vostok capsule. The Foton consists
of a spherical reentry capsule sandwiched between a
battery pack that separates before reentry and an expendable
service module with a solid-propellant retro-rocket.
The total mass is about 6.5 tons, of which 400 kg is science
payload. Foton satellites remain in an approximately
215 ×380 km ×63°orbit for 12 days, carrying out
experiments such as materials processing, before deorbiting.
The first Foton was launched on April 16, 1985,
and the most recent, Foton-12, in 1999.
France 1
A French satellite that investigated the properties of the
ionized layers of Earth’s atmosphere by observing how
frequency bands 141
very-low-frequency (VLF) waves propagate through the
ionosphere.
Launch
Date: December 6, 1965
Vehicle: Scout X-4
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base
Orbit: 696 × 707 km × 75.9°
Mass on-orbit: 60 kg
France in space
See Asterix, CERISE, CNES, COROT, Louis
Damblanc, Diamant, ELDO, Eole, ESA, Robert
Esnault-Pelterie, Achille Eyraud, France 1, Jean Froissart,
From the Earth to the Moon, Hammaguira, Helios
(reconnaissance satellites), Hermes, Jason, Y. P. G. Le
Prieur, NetLander, ONERA, ramjet, Rosetta, SPOT,
Stella, STENTOR, TOPEX/Poseidon, and Tournesol.
free fall
The motion of an object under the sole influence of gravity
and, possibly, drag.
French space agency
See CNES.
frequency
The number of back-and-forth cycles per second in a
wave or wavelike process. Frequency is measured in hertz
(Hz), after the scientist who first produced and observed
radio waves in the laboratory, and is often denoted by the
Greek letter ν (nu).
frequency bands
Because the complete radio spectrum is so broad, it is
considered to be divided into bands ranging from
extremely low frequency (longest wavelengths) to
extremely high frequency (shortest wavelengths). (See
table, “General Radio Band Designations.”)
Only a small part of this spectrum, from about 1 GHz
to a few tens of gigahertz, is used for practical radio communications.
International agreements control the usage
and allocation of frequencies within this important region.
Communications bands are designated by letters that
appear to have been chosen at random—S, C, X, and so on.
Indeed, this is exactly how they were chosen. The band letters
were originated in World War II, when references to
frequency bands needed to be kept secret. Most commercial
communications use the C (the first to be used), Ku,
K, and Ka bands. The shorter wavelength bands, such as
Ka, are used in conjunction with small (including hand-