Satellites: What Are They?

Satellite: by definition it is one object rotating around another object. In today's world when we here the word satellite, we picture a machine orbiting around the earth. Satellites serve many functions for scientists, as well as the average man. One of those obvious functions is using a satellite for television reception. Satellites are able to carry the waves of information that make up the sound and pictures and transmit it to a receiver that interprets the transmission as a television broadcast. Recently, radio is another widely available feature, where satellites send radio signals and are able to offer uninterrupted, commercial free radio programming. Another use that the average Joe may use a satellite for is through the use of a GPS locator. GPS stands for Global Positioning System. When a GPS locator sends a signal out to a satellite, the satellite is able to get the latitude and longitude

coordinates of where the receiver is and send those coordinates back to the receiver. This is useful for hiking and the sport of Geo-caching. On a scientific level, satellites able to send information about the atmosphere through pictures and external readings of the gas levels found in the atmosphere. NASA has used satellites to take pictures of the moon, as well as the earth. Meteorologists use these pictures to track weather patterns and create their forecasts. Satellites serve as our eyes and ears in outer space and allow us a birds-eye view of our world, and even our neighborhoods. With the different technologies evolving from satellite, it's exciting to see what will be next.