Service
Marisat F1 (NSSDC ID: 1976-017A) was operated at 345° E (15° W) from 1976 to 1990. It was relocated to 254° E (106° W) over the Americas until 1997, when it was retired from active service and moved out to a disposal orbit.
Marisat F3 (NSSDC ID: 1976-101A) was operated at 72.5° E until it was retired in the late 1990s and moved out to a disposal orbit.
Marisat F2 (NSSCDC ID: 1976-053A) was operated at 176° E from 1976 to 1991. It was relocated to 182 E (178° W) and operated there until 1996. It was relocated to 326.1 E (33.9º W), over the Atlantic ocean, and since 1999 F2 had been providing a wide-band data link for the National Science Foundation's U.S. Antarctic Program's Amundsen-Scott research station at the South Pole. On Wednesday 29 October 2008, after 32 years of service, the longest for any commercial satellite to date, it was retired from active service . Engineers at INTELSAT used the remaining on-board fuel to raise the orbit of F2 approximately 125 miles (200 km) above the geostationary arc and place it in a disposal orbit.
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Famous quotes containing the word service:
“The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.”
—Sun Tzu (6th–5th century B.C.)
“In the early forties and fifties almost everybody “had about enough to live on,” and young ladies dressed well on a hundred dollars a year. The daughters of the richest man in Boston were dressed with scrupulous plainness, and the wife and mother owned one brocade, which did service for several years. Display was considered vulgar. Now, alas! only Queen Victoria dares to go shabby.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)
“Television could perform a great service in mass education, but there’s no indication its sponsors have anything like this on their minds.”
—Tallulah Bankhead (1903–1968)