Communications Moon Relay (CMR)

Strictly speaking, not only is the Moon the Earth’s first satellite, but it was also used in the early 1950s by the US Navy as the first communications satellite to reflect teletypewriter messages from Washington DC to the west coast of the USA. The Communications Moon Relay (CMR) ^1,2,3 was then established between 1960 and 1962 to provide reliable long-distance communication between Washington DC and Hawaii. Although limited by the availability of a line-of-sight path from the two stations to the Moon, the CMR was used operationally to provide multi-channel radio teletype and two-way circuits for voice and facsimile as an alternate route for HF circuits during periods of heavy ionospheric disturbance. Communications were also established to USS Hancock and USS Oxford while at sea. The CMR used UHF frequencies (435–445 MHz) with 16 kHz bandwidth, using 100-kW transmitters and 25-m steerable high-gain antennas.