First-Hand:Fracturing Recollections and Milestones:First Transpacific Reception of a Television (TV) Signal via Satellite, 1963: Difference between pages

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Submitted by Tom Perkins
== First Transpacific Reception of a Television (TV) Signal via Satellite, 1963  ==


In 1957 I started working for Atlantic Refining Company (a predecessor company of ARCO, now BP).  A strong recollection is that, in this company, all the early fracturing work was done without the aid of digital computers.  The company did have a small, primitive computer, but it was reserved for the use of reservoir engineers.  Those working in drilling and well mechanics, which included hydraulic fracturing, used slide rules. If a precision of more than about three significant figures was needed a mechanical calculator could be shared. Sophisticated mathematical functions such as logarithms or error functions had been developed by government agencies during the Great Depression and  tables of functions were available in bound volumes in the library.
''On 23 November 1963, this site received the first transpacific transmission of a TV signal from Mojave earth station in California, U.S.A., via the Relay 1 communications satellite. The Ibaraki earth station used a 20m Cassegrain antenna, the first use of this type of antenna for commercial telecommunications. This event demonstrated the capability and impact of satellite communications and helped open a new era of intercontinental live TV programming relayed via satellite.''
 
Probably Atlantic’s earliest work was the study of  productivity increase resulting from vertical hydraulic fracturing of a solution-gas-drive pattern. The study was done with an electric analog model and resulted in a graphical portrayal of PI increase as a function of length of fracture relative to pattern dimension, and fracture conductivity relative to formation conductivity. This design graph was considered confidential but after several years of use, copies became generally available from our partner companies and service companies.  Details of the study were published in a paper by McGuire and Sikora in 1960.  This understanding of productivity improvement started us on the chase for higher fracture conductivity and longer lengths.


Higher conductivity suggested larger diameter and stronger propping agents.  The need for larger diameters required an improved understanding of fracture widths.  Not much was known initially about the mechanics of rock breakage at the leading edge of the fracture.  Consequently for purposes of estimating fracture widths, a simplifying assumption was that the pressure in the fracture near the leading edge was essentially equal to the opposing earth stress. Later a series of papers reported (1) studies of energies needed to propagate the fracture through the rock, and (2) the effect of this breakage on the pressure within the hydraulic fracture near the leading edge.
The milestone plaque may be viewed in the exhibition hall of previous Ibaraki Satellite Communication Center, 650, Ishitaki, Takahagi-city, Ibaraki 318-0022, Japan
The prospect of high conductivity via sparse propping led to two approaches.  The first approach was to develop stronger propping agents.  One of the earliest we developed was a ceramic-like, perfectly spherical, 1/8-inch  diameter bead made from aluminum oxide.  These spheres were very strong but expensive and about 30% heavier than glass or sand and thus hard to carry out to the end of long fractures.  Wells in Oklahoma were successfully fractured with these alumina beads (usually tailing-in at the end of the treatment) using gelled-oil carrying fluid. Steel shot were used successfully in a west Texas well.  The very strong propping agents such as these were very hard on pumps.
A second approach was to explore the use of ductile propping agents.  Essentially spherical pellets of aluminum were obtained from two sources.  When aluminum pellets were used  to sparsely prop very hard formations, the pellets would yield plastically and flatten into disk shapes having large bearing areas against the rock face.  Very high propped fracture conductivities could be measured with hard rocks in the laboratory. Several wells were fractured successfully, but others screened out.  When propping material was bailed from screened-out wells, an unexpected problem was revealed.  Many of the pellets were prematurely flattened, presumably under the pump valves, leading to too large a diameter and contributing to the screen out. 


All large diameter and heavy propping particles are hard to carry to the end of long fractures.  This led to early studies and a published paper dealing with solid transport in vertical fractures.  As the volumes of fracture jobs increased, the need for a cheaper carrying fluids became evident.  The use of a water-based fracturing fluid containing guar gum cross-linked  with borate ion was invented by Mr. Loyd Kern.  The first well fractured using this type of fluid was in west Texas; the fluid transported an aluminum pellet propping agent.  The guar gum was obtained from a company that sold the gum for several commercial purposes including as a food additive. It was necessary to properly hydrate the gum before it could be cross-linked. On the first job, not much was known about the effect of field water quality on the hydration process.  As equipment was being assembled for use in the fracturing treatment scheduled for the following morning, it was discovered that because of pH or perhaps because of ion content, the fluid refused to cross-link and gel properly.  Frantic efforts during the night showed that re-acidification and adjustment of pH yielded good cross-linking. Tanks of fluid were remixed and adjusted properly just in time for the treatment to begin on schedule. The fracture job was successful. Cross-linked guar gum was on its way to being the great fracturing fluid we know today.
<p>Inter-continental TV program transmission over the telecommunication link is a common measure for the TV broadcasters now, but just some 45 years ago, it was not practically available and the TV broadcasters relied on long-haul aircraft which carried the news films and/or video-tapes for them. In the early 1960's, telecommunications between United States and Japan depended on narrow-band coaxial submarine cables and HF radio. Satellite communications that were being experimented at that time over the Atlantic Ocean, attracted keen interest in Japan with expectation as the overseas TV transmissions media for Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled in 1964. A joint committee consisting of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Public Corporation, NHK and KDD, was organized and therein the experimental policy and the role of each party were decided. KDD (Japanese international telecommunication carrier, currently KDDI) made its preparation of the experimental earth station from 1961 and onward, while Japan participated in the Ground Station Committee sponsored by the NASA in 1962, to use communication satellites launched and operated by the NASA. <ref name="refnum7">Satellite Communications Engineering, Chapter 1.2, Ken-ichi Miya, Lattice Co., 1975</ref> </p>


Fairly late in the development of hydraulic fracturing mechanics, an under-appreciated aspect was discussed in two papers in the mid 1980’s. Typically, injection pressures for secondary recovery projects were intentionally kept below fracturing pressures (which were known from fracturing of surrounding producing wells) so as to improve the sweep  efficiency. I was asked to come to Alaska to discuss a belief of our field personnel that they were observing hydraulic fracturing of injection wells at pressures below surrounding producing wells in fields near Cook Inlet. I explained the conventional understanding of fracturing mechanics and that this was unlikely. Alternate possibilities were that fluid was being lost through a channel behind the pipe and into a thief zone.  Years later when injection tests were conducted in preparation for sea-water flooding at Prudhoe Bay, similar injection behavior was observed.  Finally the light dawned.  Injection fluids are typically colder than reservoir temperatures. When a large volume of cold fluid is injected, contraction of the rock in the cooled region around the injection well leads to a reduction in earth stress and thus a reduction in injection well fracturing pressure. It was possible to quantify the magnitude of this effect and two papers were published showing that this effect can be of considerable significance during the injection of any fluid colder than reservoir temperature.  The change of reservoir pressure in the vicinity of an injection or producing well has an analogous effect.
<p>Researchers and engineers of KDD in association with those of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and NEC Corp. devoted themselves to development of the first earth station system for overseas telecommunications in Japan. Eventually, a 20-m Cassegrain antenna was installed in Ibaraki in 1963. Application of this type of antenna for commercial communications was the first in the world. The experimental earth station was completed on November 20,1963 and the public experiment of U.S.Japan TV program relay via ''Relay 1 ''satellite was announced to be on November 23. </p>


Our fracturing research work was seriously curtailed when prorating of oil wells led to other more economically attractive research opportunities.   As the world demand for oil increased, the research and development of fracturing technology resumed several years later.
<p>All major Japanese Newspapers reported the completion of the experimental station and the TV relay experiment schedule.<ref name="refnum1">Communication-Satellite Relaying Tests between USA and Japan, Ken-ichi Miya, Journal of Institute of Electronic Communications Engineers of Japan, April 1964</ref><ref name="refnum2">Advanced Technology in Satellite Communication Antennas, Electrical &amp;amp; Mechanical Design, Chapter 2, 2.1 Introduction, Takashi Kitsuregawa, Artech House, [[/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&amp;isbn=0890063877|ISBN 0-89006-387-7]]</ref><ref name="refnum9">"Space Signal Site Completed", "U.S. Television Test To Be Relayed Here", The Japan Times, November 20, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum10">"Adjustment on-going, No visitors", The Asahi, November 20,1963</ref><ref name="refnum11">"TV relay across the Pacific on 23'd", The Mainichi, November 20, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum12">"1 st TV relay via Relay Satellite on 23'd", "The Dawn of Space Communications", The Yomiuri, November 20,1963</ref> The very first trans-Pacific satellite communications experiment via ''Relay-1'' satellite was successfully carried out on November 23, 1963. Because this experiment schedule had been widely announced by the press beforehand and telecast nation wide as a live program, many Japanese people could witness this historic television transmission from the USA in front of home TV sets. Unexpectedly, the news of the assassination of President J.F. Kennedy, who had actively promoted space exploration including satellite communications, was conveyed as the first TV program transmission over the Pacific. Japanese Newspapers reported the successful TV relay experiment along side with big coverage of President Kennedy's assassination. The fact that the very first trans-Pacific TV program transmission was the most tragic news that had happened only moments before has deeply stuck in the memory of Japanese people.<ref name="refnum3">NASA Space Chronology (Excerpts for 2007-2008), page 19, CHRONOLOGY - November 2008; 45 years ago 1963; Nov. 22</ref><ref name="refnum4">US-Japan Satellite Relay Broadcast and Apollo 11, [http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/aboutstrl/evolution-of-tv-en/p11lindex.html http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/aboutstrl/evolution-of-tv-en/p11lindex.html]</ref><ref name="refnum5">Satellite Communications in Japan, Toshio Kurimura, IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. Com-20, No.4, August 1972</ref><ref name="refnum13">"U.S. to Send President's TV Salute via Space Today", The Japan Times, November 23, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum14">"U.S.-&amp;gt; Japan TV Relay via Communications Satellite to be experimented this morning", The Mainichi, November 23, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum15">"U.S. - Japan TV Relay This Morning", "Preliminary Tests 100% Successful", The Yomiuri, November 23,1963</ref><ref name="refnum16">"U.S. - Japan TV Relay Successful", "Vivid News of Assassination", The Asahi, Evening Edition, November 23,1963</ref><ref name="refnum17">"Successful U.S.-&amp;gt;Japan TV Relay Experiment via Communications Satellite", "Tragic News hits 1st TV Relay Experiment", "Picture Better than Expected", The Mainichi, Extra Issue and Evening Edition, November 23, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum18">"Space Communication carried Tragic News", "1 st U.S. - Japan TV Relay This Morning", The Yomiuri, Evening Edition, November 23,1963</ref><ref name="refnum19">"Satellite TV Relay To Japan Successful", The Japan Times, November 24, 1963</ref> &lt;p&gt;Following the experimental earth station, the second antenna installed in Ibaraki called "Ibaraki-2A" was approved as the first Intelsat standard-A antenna in the world in 1968. Since then, Ibaraki Satellite Communication Center (ISCC) played a key role as the Japanese gateway to the USA and countries in the Pacific Rim with the growing demand of international telecommunications including telephone, television, high-speed data transmission through 1970s-1980s. The number of satellite circuit through ISCC peaked in mid 1980 with nearly 4000 circuits, Ibaraki-4A antenna (with 32m diameter) started its operation in 1984 when the traffic through ISCC was the busiest.<ref name="refnum2" /><ref name="refnum5" /> It also contributed to many innovations in satellite communications technology giving basic development facilities to researchers and engineers. It continued until satellite communications handed over its seat as the primary transmission media for overseas telecommunications to high-capacity submarine optical fiber systems in the late 1990's. </p>


[[Category:Energy|{{PAGENAME}}]]
<p>1. The very first trans-Pacific TV signal transmission from U.S.A. to Japan via satellite was achieved just one year after the first trans-Atlantic TV transmission in 1962. It strongly impressed the mind of Japanese people as a "milestone" when a new age of real-time overseas TV transmission was ushered.<ref name="refnum3" /><ref name="refnum4" /><ref name="refnum5" /><ref name="refnum9" /><ref name="refnum10" /><ref name="refnum11" /><ref name="refnum12" /><ref name="refnum13" /><ref name="refnum14" /><ref name="refnum15" /><ref name="refnum16" /><ref name="refnum17" /><ref name="refnum18" /><ref name="refnum19" /></p>
[[Category:Well_completion|{{PAGENAME}}]]
 
[[Category:Well_drilling|{{PAGENAME}}]]
<p><br>2. Application of Cassegrain antennas to commercial telecommunications was the first in the world, since prime-feed parabola or gigantic horn reflectors had been used in preceding satellite communication trials in other countries. From technical view point, the Cassegrain antenna intrinsically has an advantage of low-noise, since the spill-over from the edge of sub-reflector is being directed to the cold sky. Furthermore, the Cassegrain antenna is suitable for a very large earth station, because it can locate bulky communications equipment at the back of main reflector, which the conventional prime-feed type parabola being incapable of.<ref name="refnum1" /><ref name="refnum20">"Presentation on Ibaraki Satellite Communication Center, First Transpacific TV Signal Reception via Satellite", Yasuo Hirata, July 2008</ref></p>
 
<p>3. The Cassegrain antenna at Ibaraki was further improved later by introducing features such as 4-reflector beam-waveguide feed system and struts with a novel shape to support sub-reflector. The 4-reflector beam-waveguide feed system was designed to extend the radio frequency path between the feed horn and subreflector of Cassegrain antenna without the use of conventional waveguides, With this invention, the feed horn, low noise amplifiers and high power amplifiers with huge weight can be accommodated in a room on the ground, and high capacity earth station could be easily achieved. The beam-waveguide type design became the de-facto standard of today's large earth station antennas in the world, The 4 struts to support sub-reflector is sometimes called Godzilla-stay from their appearance. They are uniquely shaped to scatter the reflected rays to reduce wide-angle sidelobes. <ref name="refnum6">Development of Earth Station Antennas, Shin-ichi Betsudan, Space Japan Review, No. 49, October/November 2006</ref><ref name="refnum8">Side-lobe Reduction of Earth Station Antenna by Means of Improved Struts Shape, Toshio Satoh et ai, KDD Technical Journal No. 111, Jan. 1982</ref> </p>
 
== References  ==
 
<p><references /> </p>
 
== Map ==
 
{{#display_map:36.697371, 140.708953~ ~ ~ ~ ~Ishitaki, Takahagi-city, Ibaraki, Japan|height=250|zoom=10|static=yes|center=36.697371, 140.708953}}
 
[[Category:TV|Satellite]] [[Category:Aerospace engineering|Satellite]] [[Category:Satellites|Satellite]]

Revision as of 18:46, 6 January 2015

First Transpacific Reception of a Television (TV) Signal via Satellite, 1963

On 23 November 1963, this site received the first transpacific transmission of a TV signal from Mojave earth station in California, U.S.A., via the Relay 1 communications satellite. The Ibaraki earth station used a 20m Cassegrain antenna, the first use of this type of antenna for commercial telecommunications. This event demonstrated the capability and impact of satellite communications and helped open a new era of intercontinental live TV programming relayed via satellite.

The milestone plaque may be viewed in the exhibition hall of previous Ibaraki Satellite Communication Center, 650, Ishitaki, Takahagi-city, Ibaraki 318-0022, Japan

Inter-continental TV program transmission over the telecommunication link is a common measure for the TV broadcasters now, but just some 45 years ago, it was not practically available and the TV broadcasters relied on long-haul aircraft which carried the news films and/or video-tapes for them. In the early 1960's, telecommunications between United States and Japan depended on narrow-band coaxial submarine cables and HF radio. Satellite communications that were being experimented at that time over the Atlantic Ocean, attracted keen interest in Japan with expectation as the overseas TV transmissions media for Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled in 1964. A joint committee consisting of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Public Corporation, NHK and KDD, was organized and therein the experimental policy and the role of each party were decided. KDD (Japanese international telecommunication carrier, currently KDDI) made its preparation of the experimental earth station from 1961 and onward, while Japan participated in the Ground Station Committee sponsored by the NASA in 1962, to use communication satellites launched and operated by the NASA. [1]

Researchers and engineers of KDD in association with those of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and NEC Corp. devoted themselves to development of the first earth station system for overseas telecommunications in Japan. Eventually, a 20-m Cassegrain antenna was installed in Ibaraki in 1963. Application of this type of antenna for commercial communications was the first in the world. The experimental earth station was completed on November 20,1963 and the public experiment of U.S.Japan TV program relay via Relay 1 satellite was announced to be on November 23.

All major Japanese Newspapers reported the completion of the experimental station and the TV relay experiment schedule.[2][3][4][5][6][7] The very first trans-Pacific satellite communications experiment via Relay-1 satellite was successfully carried out on November 23, 1963. Because this experiment schedule had been widely announced by the press beforehand and telecast nation wide as a live program, many Japanese people could witness this historic television transmission from the USA in front of home TV sets. Unexpectedly, the news of the assassination of President J.F. Kennedy, who had actively promoted space exploration including satellite communications, was conveyed as the first TV program transmission over the Pacific. Japanese Newspapers reported the successful TV relay experiment along side with big coverage of President Kennedy's assassination. The fact that the very first trans-Pacific TV program transmission was the most tragic news that had happened only moments before has deeply stuck in the memory of Japanese people.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] <p>Following the experimental earth station, the second antenna installed in Ibaraki called "Ibaraki-2A" was approved as the first Intelsat standard-A antenna in the world in 1968. Since then, Ibaraki Satellite Communication Center (ISCC) played a key role as the Japanese gateway to the USA and countries in the Pacific Rim with the growing demand of international telecommunications including telephone, television, high-speed data transmission through 1970s-1980s. The number of satellite circuit through ISCC peaked in mid 1980 with nearly 4000 circuits, Ibaraki-4A antenna (with 32m diameter) started its operation in 1984 when the traffic through ISCC was the busiest.[3][10] It also contributed to many innovations in satellite communications technology giving basic development facilities to researchers and engineers. It continued until satellite communications handed over its seat as the primary transmission media for overseas telecommunications to high-capacity submarine optical fiber systems in the late 1990's.

1. The very first trans-Pacific TV signal transmission from U.S.A. to Japan via satellite was achieved just one year after the first trans-Atlantic TV transmission in 1962. It strongly impressed the mind of Japanese people as a "milestone" when a new age of real-time overseas TV transmission was ushered.[8][9][10][4][5][6][7][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]


2. Application of Cassegrain antennas to commercial telecommunications was the first in the world, since prime-feed parabola or gigantic horn reflectors had been used in preceding satellite communication trials in other countries. From technical view point, the Cassegrain antenna intrinsically has an advantage of low-noise, since the spill-over from the edge of sub-reflector is being directed to the cold sky. Furthermore, the Cassegrain antenna is suitable for a very large earth station, because it can locate bulky communications equipment at the back of main reflector, which the conventional prime-feed type parabola being incapable of.[2][18]

3. The Cassegrain antenna at Ibaraki was further improved later by introducing features such as 4-reflector beam-waveguide feed system and struts with a novel shape to support sub-reflector. The 4-reflector beam-waveguide feed system was designed to extend the radio frequency path between the feed horn and subreflector of Cassegrain antenna without the use of conventional waveguides, With this invention, the feed horn, low noise amplifiers and high power amplifiers with huge weight can be accommodated in a room on the ground, and high capacity earth station could be easily achieved. The beam-waveguide type design became the de-facto standard of today's large earth station antennas in the world, The 4 struts to support sub-reflector is sometimes called Godzilla-stay from their appearance. They are uniquely shaped to scatter the reflected rays to reduce wide-angle sidelobes. [19][20]

References

  1. ↑ Satellite Communications Engineering, Chapter 1.2, Ken-ichi Miya, Lattice Co., 1975
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Communication-Satellite Relaying Tests between USA and Japan, Ken-ichi Miya, Journal of Institute of Electronic Communications Engineers of Japan, April 1964
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Advanced Technology in Satellite Communication Antennas, Electrical &amp; Mechanical Design, Chapter 2, 2.1 Introduction, Takashi Kitsuregawa, Artech House, ISBN 0-89006-387-7
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Space Signal Site Completed", "U.S. Television Test To Be Relayed Here", The Japan Times, November 20, 1963
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Adjustment on-going, No visitors", The Asahi, November 20,1963
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "TV relay across the Pacific on 23'd", The Mainichi, November 20, 1963
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "1 st TV relay via Relay Satellite on 23'd", "The Dawn of Space Communications", The Yomiuri, November 20,1963
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 NASA Space Chronology (Excerpts for 2007-2008), page 19, CHRONOLOGY - November 2008; 45 years ago 1963; Nov. 22
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 US-Japan Satellite Relay Broadcast and Apollo 11, http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/aboutstrl/evolution-of-tv-en/p11lindex.html
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Satellite Communications in Japan, Toshio Kurimura, IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. Com-20, No.4, August 1972
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "U.S. to Send President's TV Salute via Space Today", The Japan Times, November 23, 1963
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "U.S.-&gt; Japan TV Relay via Communications Satellite to be experimented this morning", The Mainichi, November 23, 1963
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "U.S. - Japan TV Relay This Morning", "Preliminary Tests 100% Successful", The Yomiuri, November 23,1963
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "U.S. - Japan TV Relay Successful", "Vivid News of Assassination", The Asahi, Evening Edition, November 23,1963
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Successful U.S.-&gt;Japan TV Relay Experiment via Communications Satellite", "Tragic News hits 1st TV Relay Experiment", "Picture Better than Expected", The Mainichi, Extra Issue and Evening Edition, November 23, 1963
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Space Communication carried Tragic News", "1 st U.S. - Japan TV Relay This Morning", The Yomiuri, Evening Edition, November 23,1963
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Satellite TV Relay To Japan Successful", The Japan Times, November 24, 1963
  18. ↑ "Presentation on Ibaraki Satellite Communication Center, First Transpacific TV Signal Reception via Satellite", Yasuo Hirata, July 2008
  19. ↑ Development of Earth Station Antennas, Shin-ichi Betsudan, Space Japan Review, No. 49, October/November 2006
  20. ↑ Side-lobe Reduction of Earth Station Antenna by Means of Improved Struts Shape, Toshio Satoh et ai, KDD Technical Journal No. 111, Jan. 1982

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