On May 10th, 1963 the US Air Force launched a spacecraft containing 480 million tiny copper needles packed densely together in blocks of evaporative napthalene gel. Upon release, the tiny needles, 1.8 cm long, 0.0018 cm in diameter, began spreading out across their entire orbital path. Within two months they formed a ring encircling the globe, 2300 miles out.
Here's why...
