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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0231.PDF
example, to learn to use stopwatches accurately when observingSputnik 1; and it had in fact been found that untrained people did a better job. While Russia was most grateful for the manythousands of observations which had been received from all over the world, those concerning the impact of Lunik 2 were ratherconfusing. Reports from the Soviet Union, Britain, Sweden, Hungary and Poland had been received on this; some observershad seen a bright spot, some had seen a dark spot, and others had seen spots in an area situated a long way from the impact point."Probably these observations were not very real," commented Mrs Masevich. The planned Soviet "moonwatch" organization had been basedon 70 observing teams, at stations separated by distances of at least 1,000km, but the response from volunteers had been so great thatmore stations than were really needed had been set up. Each team had about 30 moonwatch telescopes ("not more than three orfour" are now used per team because of the brighter current satellites); larger telescopes able to trace stars of the eighth magni-tude were also employed; and 26 photographic stations used modified aircraft cameras giving a 50° X 30° field of view. Siace the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957 a total ofsome 70,000 visual observations had been made, including 30,000 from a total of 35 foreign countries.Before the first Soviet lunar probe was launched, Prof Masevichsaid, a sounding-rocket experiment had included the release of acloud of sodium vapour at a height of 430km (27 miles). From this theair density at this altitude had been obtained. The results from manymethods involving satellites and probes had shown that the high-altitude densities were 5-10 times greater than indicated in previoustheoretical models. The sodium cloud released during the flight ofLunik 2 was not intended to pro- vide scientific information, butserved as a tracking aid in case of failure of the radio transmitters. After describing the equipmentcarried by Lunik 3, Mrs Masevich said that a second transmission of all the Moon photographs had been planned for February 7,when the probe reached its perigee position of approximately 9,000km from the Earth. This would have provided a much clearerset of images than those actually transmitted from 400,000km, but was prevented by the prior cessation of Lunik 3's radiotransmissions, which was assumed to have been caused by meteor impact. The films transmitted 'vere still being analysed, and itwas hoped soon to publish an atlas of the Moon. MINITRACK IN ENGLAND A Minitrack station for the tracking of Earth satellites and spaceprobes is to be set up in England by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This news was given in Washingtonon February 16 by Arnold W. Frutkin, Director of the NASA Office of International Programs, who said that another Minitrackstation was planned for Newfoundland. These new units were designed to extend latitudinally the US tracking network. The proposed UK station will be located on a site at Winkfield,near Windsor, already used as a tracking station by the Radio Research Station, Ditton Park, Slough. The official agreement isbeing concluded by NASA and the UK Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and with the approval of the Govern-ment s Steering Group on Space Research. . Agreement in principle has already been reached, and prepara-H?.ns have begun for the installation of the US equipment at Winkneld. Assuming completion of the negotiations, it is hopedto have the station in operation by the end of the summer. BLUE WATER-OFFICIAL In the House of Commons on February 11, the Defence Minister, Harold Watkinson, said: "Our own weapon called Blue Water is Professor Maseyich a surface-to-surface missile which is intended to replace theCorporal as the weapon for support of armies in the field. It is a short-range weapon of 30 to 40-odd miles at the moment. Thecountries of Western European Union have agreed that there is a need for such a weapon and that its military characteristics areconsidered right for the purpose." The missile had not previously been officially referred to by name, nor had its range been divulged. The US Defense Department announced on February 10 thatAmerican tracking stations had detected an unidentified object in a near-Polar satellite orbit. The announcement said that the object "mightbe of Russian origin." The Royal Australian Air Force base at Butterworth, Malaya, willsoon receive its first Sidewinder air-to-air missiles (for use on Sabres), according to AVM Sir Frederick Scherger, RAAF Chief of Air Staff. On February 5, No 57 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery,was disbanded at a ceremonial parade at the Royal Artillery barracks at Woolwich, London. This regiment was the last to be equipped with the3.7in AA gun; all future "heavy" anti-aircraft units will be equipped with Thunderbird. Scientists at Stanford University have established radar contact withthe Sun by reflecting short-wave pulses from the hot gas of the solar corona, about 500,000 miles from the Sun's surface. Disclosed onFebruary 4, this contact was made last April. The 35th successful drop of test capsules for Project Mercury wasmade on January 30 from an aircraft flying at 31,000ft. Two parachutes were used for the descent, which was made into the Salton Sea, about120 miles south-east of Los Angeles. The company responsible for these tests is the Northrop Corporation. Radio messages and a photograph were transmitted from Washingtonto Hawaii via the Moon on January 28 by the US Navy. The Service said that this technique had already been used "in a limited operationalway" when atmospheric disturbances had affected ordinary straight-line communications. Following the unsuccessful attempt to place Discoverer 9 in orbit(Flight, February 12), the USAF announced: "Discoverer 9 failed to achieve orbital velocity and fell back into the Earth's atmosphere aftera successful launch. Radar data is being analysed to determine the cause of the insufficient velocity of the vehicle." It was not knownwhether the second stage had successfully separated. Sputnik 3 completed its 9,000th orbit around the Earth on February 1.In the 626 days since it was launched it had covered some 253,368,000 miles, and its period of rotation had decreased by 13.1min to 95.85min.Apogee had declined from 1,168 miles to 398 miles. According to predictions by the Radio Research Station, Slough, confirmed byProf Alia Masevich, Sputnik 3 should re-enter the Earth's atmosphere about mid-March Gen Curtis LeMay, Vice Chief of Staff of th? US Air Force, saidrecentlv that the Douglas Skybolt ALBM would be launched by the Convair B-58 Hustler. This does not, of course, preclude its use bythe B-52 and possiblv even by relatively small aircraft, but it is the first time that the ALBM has been definitely associated with an aircrafttype since the virtual cancellation of the B-70 Valkyrie. The first wing of 36 B-58s should be operational from Carswell AFB by the summer. Academician Semyon Volfkovich recently told the Tass new agency,"The fuel and oxidizers proposed by Soviet scientists can, apparently, be regarded as the best of all propellants mankind now has at its disposalfor space flights." He also commented on the record re-entry speed of the recent Soviet rocket which impacted in the Pacific, and said thatSoviet chemists had evolved "special alloys and other materials" for the nosecone. The Martin Company are installing Missile Master electronic air-defence co-ordinating systems in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Buffalo and Philadelphia; two sites arealready operational covering Washineton/Baltimore and Seattle. The comoanv were recently awarded a $3.3m Armv contract to providepublications and training for Missih Master maintenance personnel. Mai-Gen John B. Medaris, who retired on January 31 as head of theUS Army Ballistic Missile Agency, writes—in our contemporary Missiles and Rockets—that the separation of American space_ pro-grammes into civil and military portions is "fundamentally unrealistic.'" He advocates the creation of a single missile/space agency under a jointmilitary command He described the contention (expressed by the President himself) that the armed forces have no business exploringspace as "utter nonsense."
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