Project West Ford

Project West Ford is a project started by scientists in 1960s to send small metal needles into outer space. The needles were designed to reflect radio signals from Earth, so that scientists could learn more about the effects of space on signals. This project was the first attempt to use satellites to send signals. The needles were released in a ring around the Earth, called the West Ford Ring, and they stayed in space for many years. Scientists studied the signals that bounced off the needles and used them to measure the Earth's magnetic fields, the temperature of the air, and the amount of dust in the atmosphere. This project helped scientists learn more about the universe and gave them new ways of examining the Earth.