A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunications signals via a transponder. Communications satellites are used for television, radio and military applications. There are about 2,000 communications satellites in Earth's orbit, used by both private and government organizations. Many are in geostationary orbit 22,236 miles above the equator, so that the satellite appears stationary at the same point in the sky, so the satellite dish antennas of ground stations can be aimed permanently at that spot and do not have to move to track it; the high frequency radio waves used for telecommunications links travel by line of sight and so are obstructed by the curve of the Earth. The purpose of communications satellites is to relay the signal around the curve of the Earth allowing communication between separated geographical points. Communications satellites use a wide range of microwave frequencies. To avoid signal interference, international organizations have regulations for which frequency ranges or "bands" certain organizations are allowed to use.

This allocation of bands minimizes the risk of signal interference. The concept of the geostationary communications satellite was first proposed by Arthur C. Clarke, along with Vahid K. Sanadi building on work by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. In October 1945, Clarke published an article titled "Extraterrestrial Relays" in the British magazine Wireless World; the article described the fundamentals behind the deployment of artificial satellites in geostationary orbits for the purpose of relaying radio signals. Thus, Arthur C. Clarke is quoted as being the inventor of the communications satellite and the term'Clarke Belt' employed as a description of the orbit. Decades a project named Communication Moon Relay was a telecommunication project carried out by the United States Navy, its objective was to develop a secure and reliable method of wireless communication by using the Moon as a passive reflector and a natural communications satellite. The first artificial Earth satellite was Sputnik 1. Put into orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, it was equipped with an on-board radio-transmitter that worked on two frequencies: 20.005 and 40.002 MHz.

Sputnik 1 was launched as a major step in the exploration of rocket development. However, it was not placed in orbit for the purpose of sending data from one point on earth to another; the first satellite to relay communications was an intended lunar probe. Though the spacecraft only made it about halfway to the moon, it flew high enough to carry out the proof of concept relay of telemetry across the world, first from Cape Canaveral to Manchester, England; the first satellite purpose-built to relay communications was NASA's Project SCORE in 1958, which used a tape recorder to store and forward voice messages. It was used to send a Christmas greeting to the world from U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Courier 1B, built by Philco, launched in 1960, was the world's first active repeater satellite; the first artificial satellite used to further advances in global communications was a balloon named Echo 1. Echo 1 was the world's first artificial communications satellite capable of relaying signals to other points on Earth.

It soared 1,600 kilometres above the planet after its Aug. 12, 1960 launch, yet relied on humanity's oldest flight technology — ballooning. Launched by NASA, Echo 1 was a 30-metre aluminized PET film balloon that served as a passive reflector for radio communications; the world's first inflatable satellite — or "satelloon", as they were informally known — helped lay the foundation of today's satellite communications. The idea behind a communications satellite is simple: Send data up into space and beam it back down to another spot on the globe. Echo 1 accomplished this by serving as an enormous mirror, 10 stories tall, that could be used to reflect communications signals. There are two major classes of communications satellites and active. Passive satellites only reflect the signal coming from the source, toward the direction of the receiver. With passive satellites, the reflected signal is not amplified at the satellite, only a small amount of the transmitted energy reaches the receiver. Since the satellite is so far above Earth, the radio signal is attenuated due to free-space path loss, so the signal received on Earth is very weak.

Active satellites, on the other hand, amplify the received signal before retransmitting it to the receiver on the ground. Passive satellites are little used now. Telstar was the second direct relay communications satellite. Belonging to AT&T as part of a multi-national agreement between AT&T, Bell Telephone Laboratories, NASA, the British General Post Office, the French National PTT to develop satellite communications, it was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral on July 10, 1962, in the first sponsored space launch. Relay 1 was launched on December 13, 1962, it became the first satellite to transmit across the Pacific Ocean on November 22, 1963. An immediate antecedent of the geostationary satellites was the Hughes Aircraft Company's Syncom 2, launched on July 26, 1963. Syncom 2 was the first communications satellite in a geosynchronous orbit, it revolved around the earth once per day at constant speed, but because it still had north-south motion, special equipment was needed to track it. Its successor, Syncom 3 was the first geostationary communications satellite.

Syncom

The Old Town Transit Center is an intermodal transportation station located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California. It is served by the San Diego Trolley, Coaster commuter rail, Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner, as well as numerous San Diego Metropolitan Transit System bus lines; the Old Town Transit Center was built in the early 1990s, San Diego Trolley's North/South Line was extended here on June 16, 1996. In November 1997, the line, renamed the Blue Line, was extended into Mission Valley; when the Green Line service was introduced with the opening of the Mission Valley East extension on July 10, 2005, the Blue Line's northern terminus was pushed back to this station, which served as the Green Line's western terminus. During a system redesign on September 2, 2012, as part of the Trolley Renewal Project, MTS extended the western terminus of the Green Line from this station to 12th & Imperial Bayside Terminal and shortened the Blue Line's northern terminus to America Plaza; the Special Event Line was eliminated.

The Old Town Transit Center hosts passenger trains operating on Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner intercity rail route and on the San Diego Coaster commuter rail line. Of the 22 weekday Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains operating in San Diego, 18 of them stop at the Old Town Transit Center, though the Surfliner trains operating at Old Town do not offer checked luggage service, stop at Old Town to board passengers or detrain passengers only, respectively. Amtrak ridership at Old Town Transit Center has exploded over the last two years. In Fiscal Year 2011, there were just 22,867 detrainings at Old Town. In Fiscal Year 2012, boardings and detrainings at Old Town rose to 61,118, a 167% increase over FY2011; as of Fiscal Year 2013, the Amtrak ridership figure has continued to rise, to 135,749 boardings and detrainings, a further 122% increase over FY2012. Of the 74 California stations served by Amtrak, the Old Town Transit Center was the 25th-busiest in Fiscal Year 2013, boarding or detraining an average of 372 passengers daily.

Old Town Transit Center is a light rail station on the San Diego Trolley's Green Line. This station served as that line's terminus, until a system realignment on September 2012 extended the Green Line though Old Town to Downtown San Diego. Once the Trolley's Mid-Coast extension is completed, the Blue Line will be re-extended through this station to serve the University City area, so the Blue Line will once again serve Old Town by 2021. In July 2015, a 30-year naming rights agreement between MTS and UC San Diego Health was announced. Old Town operates as a bus transit center for San Diego Metropolitan Transit System's routes 8, 9, 10, 28, 30, 35, 44, 88, 105, 150. There is an underground pedestrian tunnel linking bus terminals on both sides of the station with the trolley/train areas. Old Town is served by university shuttles for University of California, San Diego and University of San Diego; the station is located at the intersection of Rosecrans Street/Taylor Street and Pacific Highway, adjacent to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.

Free parking for up to 24-hours is available in the Transit Center lots. List of San Diego Trolley stations San Diego - Old Town, CA – Amtrak COASTER Stations Old Town Transit Center Old Town San Diego Amtrak Station Old Town San Diego State Historic Park San Diego-Old Town --Great American Stations

The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite is the first comic book limited series of The Umbrella Academy and written by musician Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. The series ran for six issues from September 2007 to February 2008. James Jean provided cover art for this series only. A trade paperback was released on June 18, 2008; the first issue, "The Day the Eiffel Tower Went Berserk", was released on September 19, 2007. The inside front cover features notes made by Sir Reginald Hargreeves on his seven adopted children, numbered by usefulness; the Umbrella Academy, a group of seven superpowered children born to women that had shown no signs of pregnancy, are adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, a space alien who poses as a wealthy inventor and who raises them as superheroes. At ten years old, the Umbrella Academy, Diego, Klaus and Vanya, stop an attack on Paris resulting in the Eiffel tower taking off into space. 20 years the group has split up, they all fail to stay in touch with each other after the disappearance of #5, who remained unnamed, the death of #6.

#1, the former leader of the team and whose head has been transplanted onto the body of a Martian Gorilla, receives a phone call, finding out about the death of Sir Reginald Hargreeves. He returns to the academy to find his brother #5, who went missing 20 years before, still physically aged 10; the second issue, "We Only See Each Other At Weddings And Funerals", was released on October 17, 2007. The next day, #1 reunites with his sister and childhood crush, #3, who has the power to alter reality with her lies, she reveals that she has divorced, has a daughter. They reunite with #4, capable of communicating with the dead, with #2, a rebel with superhuman accuracy with throwing knives. After Sir Reginald Hargreeves' funeral, they talk to #5, who reveals he figured out how to travel to the future when they were 10, where he got stuck and he found that the apocalypse had happened, he states. In the city, the now estranged #7, having never shown any ability beyond the violin, goes to the Icarus Theater.

There she is offered a position in the Orchestra Verdammten, a group of musicians claiming they can destroy the world by playing the "Apocalypse Suite. The third issue, "Dr. Terminal's Answer", was released on November 21, 2007; the Umbrella Academy fights the Terminauts, a group of destructive robots programmed by the academy's former nemesis, Dr. Terminal. #7 intervenes in the fight only to be saved by #2, it is revealed that he holds a grudge against her for leaving the academy years ago. A resentful # 7 joins the Orchestra Verdament; the fourth issue, "Baby, I'll Be Your Frankenstein", was released on December 19, 2007. Unexpectedly, #7 is revealed to be in fact the most powerful of all her siblings and the conductor of the Orchestra experiments with her to unleash her power. #5 and Dr. Pogo go to a café where #5 is ambushed by a mysterious group of masked men carrying laser guns, #5 kills them afterwards. #7 dubs herself "The White Violin" and proclaims the end of the Umbrella Academy and the world.

The fifth issue, "Thank You For The Coffee" was released on January 21, 2008. Inspector Lupo investigates the crime scene where #5 killed the mysterious masked men, while #1 and #3 proclaim their love for each other and share a kiss. #5 finds Sir Reginald Hargreeves's monocle, which allows someone to see everything about a person, faints. The White Violin attacks the Umbrella Academy, Dr. Pogo dies in the process The sixth issue, "Finale" Or "Brothers And Sisters, I Am An Atomic Bomb" was released on February 20, 2008. #1, #3, #4 and #5 prepare to stop the Apocalypse Suite. # 2 fails due to past emotions. #2, #4 and #5 continue to fight the Orchestra Verdammten, end the fight when #5 shoots #7 in the head, although not fatally. #4 uses telekinesis to stop meteors falling to the earth and stops the end of the world. In the epilogue, we learn that #7 remains paralyzed and #3 will never be able to talk again, unable to use her powers. #1, #2, #4 and #5 return to the academy to find it destroyed, crushed by the Eiffel Tower.

The series has been collected as a trade paperback: The Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite At the 2008 Eisner Awards, The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite won for Best Limited Series. The Deluxe Edition of The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite is nominated for Best Graphic Album — Reprint at the 2009 Eisner Awards. A sequel, The Umbrella Academy: Dallas, was published between November 2008 and April 2009 and collected into a trade paperback on September 30, 2009; the Umbrella Academy on Myspace Pages 11-13 of the first issue, Entertainment Weekly Pages 1-5 of the second issue, Comic Book Resources