FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1170.PDF
146 i FLIGHT, 29 July 1960 Missiles and Spaceflight ... energy continuously than any space power system so far launched,it has a rating of 125W at 28V. The complete unit weighs 1751b and has a diameter of 24in and length of 34in. The fuel capsulecontains pellets of cerium 144, which is currently being separated at Oak Ridge. Unlike solar cells, SNAP 1-A will be unaffectedby micrometeorites and will continue to deliver power while in the shadow of the Earth. The other new APU is under development for the USAF AirResearch and Development Command by the Hamilton Standard Division of United Aircraft. It is to be of the solar type and,after testing with a 100W prototype, will be produced as a l,500W unit suitable for satellites in 90min orbit. The smaller version,which is to undergo static test this autumn, will consist of 900 aluminium reflectors, each with a diameter of 4in, assembled ingroups of 28 to focus the Sun's rays on to collectors from which the heat will be transmitted to a thermocouple. Temperaturedifference across the thermocouple should be some 600 °F (1,000/ 400 °F). Operationally the generator will be automatically unfoldedin space and will be employed in conjunction with chemical batteries to provide power in the Earth's shadow. PIONEER 5 SILENT The last radio communication from the US space probe Pioneer 5was a six-minute message received at Jodrell Bank on June 26, at which time the probe was 22.5 million miles from Earth andmoving at a speed relative to the Earth of -21,000 m.p.h. The previous long-distance communication record was 407,000 milesby Pioneer 4. Repeated attempts to contact Pioneer 5 after June 26 were unsuccessful and no further attempt is being made. Launched on March 11 from Cape Canaveral, Pioneer 5 useda five-watt transmitter for most of the time during its 106-day active life. The 150-watt transmitter was not used during the firstfour weeks but responded promptly when commanded for the first time on May 8 when the probe was eight million miles from Earth.Subsequent use of this transmitter was limited because of an apparent deterioration of the probe's 28 batteries. Three possible reasons for the loss of contact with Pioneer 5have been suggested: (1) The probe may simply have exceeded the possible transmitting range from Earth of the five-watt unit(earlier estimates of this range were approximately 20 million miles); (2) Battery failure or leakage induced by the "hard" vacuumof deep space. The batteries were charged constantly by solar This Boeing "multi-stress" chamber, now nearing completion, is part of a space-research programme to determine human tolerances and equipment capabilities. In it, the "pilot" will be subjected to noise, intense light, vibration, and variations in pressure, temperature and atmospheric composition Last week we presented on this page a series of photographs showing the separation of the warhead of a Northrop SM-62 Snark. The photo- graph above, which shows the launch of one of these intercontinental aerodynamic-cruise missiles under the thrust of its twin 130,0001b boost rockets, is the first to depict a Snark in the markings of USAF Strategic Air Command. Snarks are deployed with the 702nd Strategic Missile Wing at Presque Isle, Maine cells in four paddles extending from the 26in diameter sphericalpayload; (3) A failure of some other important component or system. A complete analysis of the performance of Pioneer 5 is beingmade by NASA and Space Technology Laboratories. The data transmitted by the probe during its 138.9hr of transmission hasestablished the following new items of scientific information: 1. Detection of solar particles in transit between the Sun and Earth,at a distance of millions of miles from Earth. 2. Sudden decreases in cosmic ray intensity, known as the Forbushdecrease, do not appear to depend on the Earth's magnetic field. 3. The intensity of the outer Van Allen radiation belt around the Earthis not produced directly by the injection of electrons from the Sun. Simultaneous measurements by Pioneer 5 and Explorer 7 indicate thatthe electrons are somehow accelerated to higher velocities after being caught in the Earth's magnetic field.4. Magnetometer data can be explained by the existence of a large ring current circulating around the Earth at from about 30,000 to 60,000miles. The total current flowing in this region has been computed at five million amps. 5. Evidence that the Earth's detectable magnetic field extends as far as64,000 miles from the Earth. 6. Suggested existence of a measurable interplanetary magnetic field. Scientific data obtained during the flight came from instrumentsbuilt by Space Technology Laboratories, the University of Chicago and the University of Minnesota. The probe's orbit around theSun will cover a distance of approximately 515 million miles, and Pioneer 5 will fly 18 million miles closer to the Sun than any otherman-made object. A five-stage Strongarm 3 sounding rocket designed to measure elec-tron densities in the upper atmosphere was launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, on July 13. On July 18 the month-old strike of 10,500 members of the IAMemployed by Lockheed's Missiles & Space Division, was terminated by the company award of an extra 4c per hour, and the promise of 3cper hour next year. The final stage of the carrier rocket of Sputnik 4, the Soviet "space- ship" satellite, re-entered the dense layers of the Earth's atmosphere and "ceased to exist" on July 17. This was reported by the French astrophysics observatory at Meudon on July 18, and confirmed by Tass on July 19. Robert C. Seamans Jr, chief engineer of the Missile Electronics andControl Division of the Radio Corporation of America, has beer. appointed Associate Administrator of the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration. He succeeds Richard E. Homer, who has joined Northrop Inc as senior vice-president, technical. Three authors of a Northrop Corporation satellite rendezvous studyhave been named joint winners of the US Institute of Navigation's first annual Samuel M. Burks Award. The award, given for outstandingcontributions to knowledge of space navigation, went to Norman V Petersen, Leroy R. Hoover and Dr Leonard Pode for a paper, entitledSatellite Rendezvous Navigational Requirements, which explores th; problems of bringing together manoeuvrable satellites in space. A contract for the development and test of a guided recovery devicwhich will use rotor blades in place of a parachute, and for the studv of its ultimate application to manned space capsules, nosecones antlarge rocket boosters, has been placed with Kaman Aircraft Corp b- Air Research and Development Command of the USAF. The devicwill be a version of the Rotochute already developed by Kaman.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
