Project West Ford

The Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences, in a recent report on the Project West Ford communications experiment, has concluded that the controversial dipole belt placed in orbit last year has not interfered with observations in either optical or radio astronomy. Under the project, which was carried out by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, more than 400 million copper‐wire dipoles, each less than one inch long, were placed in a nearly circular, 2000‐mile‐high polar orbit early in May 1963. The dipoles were gradually dispersed over a period of several weeks to form an artificial reflecting belt for experiments in directed radio‐frequency radiation in the 8000‐Mc/sec band. The dipole belt was used during the ensuing months in communications experiments between stations in Massachusetts and California.