Television crosses the Atlantic

For about twenty minutes, while one small satellite was above the horizon at both ends at once, Europe and America watched each other live.

Telstar was not in a fixed orbit, so the window came round every two and a half hours and lasted as long as the geometry allowed. The programme was assembled in a hurry and included the Statue of Liberty, a baseball game and a press conference; the instrumental record named after it went to number one on both sides.