Editing Communications Technology Satellite (section)

== Communications Experiments ==
* [[Super high frequency]] (12 and 14&nbsp;GHz) - Transmitter Experiment Package (TEP): this communications experiment consisted of a 20-W low-power [[super high frequency]] (SHF) communications transponder, a 200-W high-power SHF transmitter package, an SHF beacon, and antenna subsystems. The purpose of this experiment was: 1) to evaluate technical performance of the components and 2) to evaluate overall technical operation of the system. Both types of tests were done over a 2-year period. Reference was sometimes made to the two different types of evaluation as two different experiments. Evaluation of the overall operation was then referred to as a "communication system" experiment.<ref name="Experiment1">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1976-004A-01|title=Experiment1 Hermes 1976-004A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=22 June 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* Solar Array Technology Experiment (SATE): this experiment was to study the mechanical, dynamic, and electrical properties of a new type of extendable solar array over an extended time period. The two 1.3- x 6.5-m arrays were unfolded from their packs by unfurling a supporting tube that was attached to the extremity of the array.<ref name="Experiment2">{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1976-004A-02|title=Experiment2 Hermes 1976-004A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=22 June 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* Attitude Control System Experiment: this was a technology experiment to evaluate the dynamics of spacecraft mechanical flexibility on ACS (attitude control system) operation and to demonstrate that attitude control flight performance was in accordance with stability and control theory.<ref name="Experiment3">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1976-004A-03|title=Experiment3 Hermes 1976-004A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=22 June 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* Canadian Communications Experiments: this experiment involved investigation of practical techniques for use of the satellite communications systems being tested. It included communication techniques for use in medicine, education, community development and interaction, and data transmission. It also included development of compatible ground facilities. About 30 different experiments by over 20 different organizations have been approved by a joint working group, which approved and coordinated Canadian and American experiments for this satellite equipment.<ref name="Experiment4">{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1976-004A-04|title=Experiment4 Hermes 1976-004A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=22 June 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* United States User Experiments: this experiment involved explanation of future possible uses of high-powered communications satellites. Experimentation by 13 different experimenters involved medicine, education, community services, special services, and communications technology.<ref name="Experiment5">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1976-004A-05|title=Experiment5 Hermes 1976-004A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=22 June 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

The CTS satellite also made history as being the first communications satellite used for [[video art]], by artist [[Keith Sonnier]] in 1977 for his 2-part piece titled "Send/Receive Satellite Network", in which video and [[character generator]] text and graphics were fed over the satellite between the East and West Coasts of the United States. This marked the first time that satellite communication technology was used for video art. NASA cooperated with Sonnier's project and provided a satellite uplink truck for access to the CTS satellite. The piece was produced in two parts, "Phase I", which was a critique of satellite technology and whether it would become accessible to the public rather than the commercial and military purposes for the technology at that time, using feeds sent over the satellite by the artist and other participants, and "Phase II", which featured excerpts of the feeds sent.

Several communities in the Canadian wilderness participated in a series of realistic tests of its capacities. Experiments in telemedicine for [[Emergency medical services]], [[Teleconference|teleconferencing]] and [[Community television|community TV]] were conducted. The satellite was also used in May 1978 to televise [[Stanley Cup]] hockey playoffs to Canadian diplomats in [[Peru]] to demonstrate its international capacity. This was the first direct-to-home satellite television broadcast in the world. It covered about 40% of the Earth's surface, from its [[geostationary orbit]]. In Canada alone, 37 tests were done using a family of 27 ground terminals. The experiments led to the creation of the hybrid [[Anik (satellite)|Anik B]] satellite which was both a standard [[Anik (satellite)|Anik]] model and a platform for pilot projects of [[Satellite television|direct broadcast TV]].

In 1987, Canada's Department of Communications and [[NASA]] received an [[Emmy Award]] for developing direct broadcast TV satellite technology with the Hermes CTS program.