WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
SPACED OUT
Profile America — Thursday, December 18th. The satellite Atlas was launched from Cape Canaveral on this date in 1958. The spacecraft would make history the next day, beaming the first voice heard from space — a recording of President Eisenhower with a 58-word Christmas greeting. These words came at the height of the Cold War and the space race with the Soviet Union. Today, satellites daily perform vital functions — tracking the weather, relaying millions of telephone calls and computer links, as well as radio and television signals. Currently, there are around 1,200 active satellites in Earth orbit. Satellite telecommunications in the U.S. involves hundreds of establishments in a $4.5 billion a year business, and employs over 8,000 people. You can find current data on the country's economy by downloading the 'America's Economy' mobile application at www.census.gov/mobile.
Sources:
Atlas launch & voice recording: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-032113a.html
Current satellite count: http://www.statista.com/statistics/264472/number-of-satellites-in-orbit-by-operating-country/
Satellite telecommunications/NAICS 5174: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=BP_2012_00A1&prodType=table
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).
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To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-december-18-300009747.html
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
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