A Retrospective on the Hughes Corporation's Contribution to the Exploration of Outer Space

A Retrospective on the Hughes Corporation's Contribution to the Exploration of Outer Space

In Martin Scorsese's movie, The Aviator, the life of Howard Hughes was fully glamorized. The company he founded, Hughes Aircraft, and later Hughes Space and Communications, was obviously noteworthy. These companies built airplanes, helicopters, missiles, radar systems, satellites, and interplanetary exploration vehicles. The company built the first working laser, aircraft computer systems, and ion-propulsion engines.

In 2000, Hughes sold it's Space and Communications divisions to Boeing, and in 2003, Hughes sold effective controlling interest (39%) in DirecTV to News Corporation/Fox Broadcasting (Rupert Murdoch).

Notable Achievements: Syncom (1963): Syncom is short for "synchronous communication satellite". Hughes built the world's first geosynchronous communications satellite, Syncom 2. Syncom 1 was to be the first geosynchronous communications satellite. but was lost due to an electronics failure. The Syncom satellites weighed 86 pounds.ATS (1966-1969): Hughes built the world's first geosynchronous weather satellites, ATS. The ATS satellites conducted experiments in communications and meteorology. An ATS satellite produced the first color picture showing a view of our planet from space.Surveyor (1966): Hughes built 7 Surveyor systems, robotic spacecraft used as pathfinders. These spacecraft provided the first soft landings on the Moon as preparation for the Apollo missions. Each spacecraft was about 10 feet tall, 14 feet in width, and weighed about 2300 pounds. A total of 7 Surveyor systems were sent to the moon. Five made successful landings. Apollo 12 later landed about 400 meters from the landing site of Surveyor 3, and astronauts retrieved parts of the spacecraft to determine the effects of long exposure to the lunar environment.Pioneer (1978): Hughes built Pioneer Venus, which performed radar mapping of Venus until its demise in 1992. The mission, scheduled to last 243 days, instead lasted 14 years. The Pioneer mission to Venus consisted of two modules, launched separately, Pioneer Venus Orbiter (the "mother" craft) and Pioneer Venus Multiprobe. The multiprobe spacecraft divided into four separate probes, one large probe, and three small probes. In total, the five spacecraft contained 18 scientific instruments. The probes all functioned perfectly, transmitting data through their descent. One probe survived impact and continued to transmit valuable data from the planet's surface for more than an hour.LEASAT (1984-1990): LEASAT is short for "Leased Satellites". Hughes built the LEASAT satellite system that was launched in the 1980's that formed a global military communications network. The 5 Intelsat satellites were also called Syncom IV-1 to Syncom IV-5. However, these satellites weighed more than 1500 pounds each, as opposed to the 86 pounds of Syncom satellites built in the 1960s. The LEASAT satellites were the first satellites specifically designed for launch by the Space Shuttle. Users include mobile air, surface ships, submarines, and fixed earth stations of the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Army.DirecTV (1994): Hughes pioneered direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service for delivering television programming directly to the consumer, launching service in 1994. The new technologies that had to be engineered to provide this service included very high power satellite transmission and digital video compression (CDV). The higher power was needed so that smaller antenna dishes could be used by the consumer. The higher the power of the transmission from the satellite, the smaller the dish. CDV reduces the signal bandwidth requirements of a TV signal to enable its transmission via the Internet, DVD, cable, or satellite. This is necessary because an uncompressed video signal requires a a large bandwidth. The high definition signal (HDTV) is much larger than standard definition files. DirecTV has approximately 17 million customers in the United States. DirecTV is currently in a race with the Dish Network to develop the HDTV DBS market. By 2010, 60% of U.S. homes will use a Satellite signal, up from 15% in 2002.Galileo (1995): Hughes built the Galileo probe that studied Jupiter in the 1995-1997. The spacecraft studied the planet, its moons, orbital rings and the planet's magnetic field. As a part of the program, Galileo released a probe that entered the planet's atmosphere for detailed study. The probe survived entry speeds of over 106,000 MPH, extreme temperatures more than twice the temperature of the surface of the Sun, and deceleration forces up to 230 G's. The probe relayed data obtained during its 57 minute descent mission back to the Galileo orbiter for transmission back to Earth.

As of the year 2000, the company had built approximately 40 percent of commercial satellites in service worldwide. Much of the current interplanetary exploration, and communication satellite industry, has been built on the foundation laid by the Hughes Corporation.