The News on the Go, the Connection between News and the Space Program

Have you ever thought about how news can be on a 24-hour cycle now? Have you ever considered how this news is delivered all the way back to New York or Los Angeles from halfway around the world in what seems like real time? The truth is, everyone has gotten so used to the technology very few people stop to think of the marvel that is instant television. When the space program “shut down” in the United States recently many people did not see how something like that could affect their lives. The truth is, all of the instant television people enjoy is a direct result of the actions of the space program.

Satellite uplink trucks are a big part of traveling news divisions. In order to send the information around the world, you have to utilize one of the trucks. This gives the news crew direct access to any of the satellites and helps the news crew deliver real time footage. While the satellites are often controlled in the newsroom, sometimes the trucks must change the directional output in order to get a good signal. This signal can be checked with a portable satellite TV.

For a world where we get cell phone service practically anywhere, it is hard to imagine a place that is not connected. The truth is, there are many locations not fully covered by satellite services so the satellite uplink trucks are the only way to make GPS work, telephone communications and most especially video footage. As advanced as the internet technologies have become, there is not always a great transfer rate. It is better to shoot everything into space in order to get more reliable signals. This became readily apparent when the internet was taken down in Egypt.

No matter what you might think of the news or the space program, the two will forever go hand in hand. Until they find a different way to move data quickly, the news will be dependent on the reliability of satellites, making the people dependent on such technology as well.