Astronomy’s Unsung Hero is a Plain Ol’ Aluminum Ball

In 1965, MIT's Lincoln Laboratory saw their Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 (LCS-1) launched into Earth orbit. It was an empty aluminum sphere and couldn't do any science of its own. But the world's most boring disco ball has played a huge support role in astronomy, earth science, and engineering for over half a century!

Hosted by: Hank Green (he/him)
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Image Courtesy of MIT Lincoln Laboratory

[martinboyle]

Sometimes you get answers to questions you never knew you had asked...

When I worked in television, we always had to move our dish to a different satellite for the overnight feed when we went off the air.

We always had to sync with LCS-1 before switching to the new satellite feed.

I was 0 days old today when I learned what in the hell LCS-1 really was.

Thanks for the lesson! :)

[oxylepy]

Sometimes your spherical chicken in a vacuum just needs to actually be a spherical object in a near vacuum

[donaldwert]

Somehow, even thought they are different elements, I chuckled when Hank at 0:43 said the aluminum ball was exactly what it said on the tin.

[antonsimmons]

Sometimes, the minutiae are more fascinating than a lot of the big stories. This, for me, is such a case.

[bhami]

Fascinating. I was familiar with the two Echo satellites launched in 1960, but not with LCS-1. The Echo satellites were 30m inflated spheres made of aluminized mylar, and were designed to test radio communication by reflection, and not for calibration. Both satellites re-entered in the late 1960s.

[georgehugh]

Hank is the most entertaining of the SciShow presenters, hands-down. 😂

[albertoescamilla]

Hank makes something common and mundane into something exciting. Great job.

[schlettyb]

Here at Space Fence, we use both LCS spheres and a couple other objects for radar calibration. We track from LEO all the way to GEO. At low orbit we can track extremely small objects! All thanks to MIT-Lincoln Labs

[pyrogotz]

I've always wondered how they know if the instruments are reading information correctly. Cool to know we have something that they can test instruments on.

[aldenconsolver]

Thank you, Hank, you guys keep covering really important science topics that do not get the coverage they should. At the same time you cover the flash stuff too as well as anybody (and better than all but specialists). I guess you guys are high-quality entertainment for the thinkers.

[chekote]

That’s so cool. Not boring or mundane at all! I love simple elegant solutions 👏🏻

[kerzwhile]

I had Zero idea this existed! 🤔 Very cool!! 😀

[etcetera]

Hank, we all know that you are the best that humanity has to offer.

[curtiswfranks]

Thank you LCS-1! We love and appreciate you!

[midnitepostman]

Wish you discussed how they got it into orbit and why the orbit has remained relatively stable for decades

[pyrogotz]

Wow... this seems super important and I have never heard of it till now!

[DollyOmegaX]

You just don't get to hear about things like this and you'd never know they exist unless someone just tells you 🤷‍♀️

Thank you so very much!!! I love this!!!

[inkynebula]

now imagine you are another civilization finding this sphere floating in space and trying to understand its function, meaning, and purpose.

[normbale]

An aluminum pole can add a nice touch to the room during the holiday season.

[safaiaryu]

Oh. This makes so much sense but I never would have thought of it. How interesting!