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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0775.PDF
FLIGHT, 10 June 1960 783 Full-power tests on May 26 of the eight- engine Saturn first stage at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, produced a thrust of lJOOfiOOIb for 35sec. Scale is given to the Saturn cluster by the Jupiter IRBM on the right of the test tower Missiles and Spaceflight JOINT SKY BOLT DEVELOPMENT A LTHOUGH at the time of going to press no official statement t\ had been issued, it seems clear that the mission of the •^ -^- British Defence Minister, Harold Watkinson, to his American opposite number, Thomas S. Gates, has brought evi- dence that more than lip-service is being paid to the problem of providing a joint Western deterrent. On the night of June 1 the two defence chiefs exchanged formal letters of intent on the Sky Bolt air-launched ballistic missile. The most that can be said of this important weapon was con- tained on page 436 of our issue of April 1. After three years of intensive feasibility studies and study contracts by many American companies the US Air Force awarded Douglas Aircraft the prime contract for a complete ALBM system under the desig- nation of GAM-87A. From the outset various Service and civilian people in Britain have eyed the programme closely, and our interest in the concept certainly goes back a lot further than the cancella- tion of Blue Streak. It is also quite clear that, although GAM-87A for Strategic Air Command will be one hundred per cent American and completely uncompromised, our own missile will be tailored from the outset for RAF Bomber Command. As we have emphasized before, no technical consideration is expected to cause much difficulty, apart from one or two problems of guidance. Less critical items, and certainly the warhead, are likely to be produced in the United Kingdom to British specifica- tions. From now onwards, personnel from British ministries and from Bomber Command—and doubtless from industry also —will be increasingly committed to the development of the British Sky Bolt, and all development will be conducted in the most intimate co-operation with the United States. It would appear inescapable that the RAF weapon will by no means be a Chinese copy of GAM-87A, although it would be foolish to embark on any design change which might require duplication of the development effort. It is difficult to understand why there should be such contro- versy over our choice of this weapon. Once one accepts the fact that we cannot afford Polaris, the ALBM seems highly attractive and should prove an effective delivery system even without a stand- ing airborne alert. The British missile will be carried by the Vulcan B.2 on underwing pylons. The aircraft could lift four, but two appears the probable standard load. There is no require- ment to convert all the V-force, and in any case the Victor's wing is rather close to the ground for an installation to be attractive. At some time after 1965 the optimum carrier vehicle will be the "Super-VCIO" bomber/transport. SAC's plans call for the first B-52H Hound Dog units to convert to the new weapon in the winter of 1964-65. Doubtless Blue Steel, our own cruise-type weapon roughly comparable to Hound Dog, will also be replaced by the ALBM over a similar time-scale. L0OKING-OUT IN SPACE American industry competition is now keen in the bid for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration contract for an ortrting astronomical observatory. Details of the function and Tkely design of the OAO have been disclosed in a number of Weighing 5,7001b, this new launcher for the Martin TM-76B Mace is fabricated from box-section steel and is of better design than the original model. The front mounting frame is hinged at its lower end technical papers during recent months, and it is probable that construction of this challenging vehicle will begin this autumn. The papers include Design Considerations for an Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, by William Triplet* of the NASA Ames Research Center (presented at the American Rocket Society semi-annual meeting in Los Angeles last month); Satellite Astro- nomical Observatories, by Dr Nancy Roman, head of the NASA astronomy and astrophysics programmes; and An Orbiting Astro- nomical Telescope Design Study, by I. A. Schroader and J. G. Chubbuck of the Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University (also ARS papers). In addition to viewing the Sun, the OAO will undoubtedly look towards other stars and the planets. It may be that the observatory (reported to mount a 36in mirror) will permit determination of the nature of the canals on Mars. Other observations, taken in the infra-red range, should enable us to look for the first time into the centre of our own galaxy; and the OAO should assist also in determining the nature of interstellar dust. According to Dr Roman, orbiting telescopes may enable us to detect the presence of planets surrounding nearby stars. Another question to be answered with data derived from a satellite observatory was whether distant galaxies were identical to our own. As another justification for the programme, the OAO should permit the observation of galaxies at distances of several times that which could be reached by the 200in mirror at Mt Palomar. From Triplett's paper comes the information that the OAO will be designed for a lifetime in orbit of one year. The projected launch date is some three years hence. Tentatively, an orbital inclination of 30° to 35° is planned, and if all goes well the observatory will be placed in circular orbit at 500 miles altitude. A satellite weight of 3,0001b is contemplated (suggesting Atlas- Agena as the booster), and a general-purpose vehicle is envisaged. No wave-length limitation is to be inherent in the design, save that imposed by the specific optical system and by the available radiation analysers. Typical radiation analysers will include video cameras, spectrographs, photo-electric cells and possibly a Land- type camera (with scanned reproductions). [Cont. overleaf
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