FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1960
1960 - 2058.PDF
Missiles and Spaceflight MET OFFICE GETS IN SPACE ACT The creation of a new assistant directorate within the Meteoro-logical Office, concerned with high-atmosphere problems and in particular the use of sounding rockets, high-altitude balloons andartificial satellites, is recorded in the Annual Report on the Meteorological Office for the year ended March 31, 1960. Oneof eight assistant directorates under the Director of Research, Dr R. C. Sutcliffe, the new group is headed by Dr R. Frith, OBE, MA, PhD. Also disclosed in the report is the fact that design work on asatellite experiment to measure the vertical distribution of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere, and the construction of instruments formounting in a Scout satellite vehicle, have begun at Kew Observatory. ECHO 1 KEEPS GOING It is clear that Echo 1, the 100ft sphere of 0.0005in Mylar polyesterfilm placed in orbit on August 12, has already far surpassed NASA's expectations. It may be recalled that during its first 12days it was perpetually in sunlight, thereafter spending up to 30min on each orbit in the Earth's shadow. Although the time indarkness on each orbit has now increased to between 35 and 40min, the sphere has not collapsed but has merely suffered a fewkinks (plus a number of micrometeorite punctures). The original apogee/perigee were established at 1,050 and 946miles respectively. According to NASA, the orbit has remained very steady, apogee having decreased during the first month by The Bristol/Ferranti Bloodhound has necessarily been subjected to severe environmental testing. These photographs, newly received from Bristol Aircraft, illustrate (right) a driving-rain test, a complete missile body (below) suffering a simulated dust-storm and a rear body —minus ramjet—undergoing a kinetic-heating test (below right) 496 , • FLIGHT, 23 September I960 This recent scene at RAF North Coates, Lincolnshire, is one of th first to show a complete Bloodhound Fire Unit in service. This stati - has been operational for two years only 2.8 miles, to 1,047.7, and perigee having increased by 3 3miles. (Curiously, a London newspaper states that the orbit ha- become progressively more eliptical, and that the present valuesare 1,165/835 miles; apogee and perigee are said to be respectively increasing and decreasing by about 2 miles per day.) NASA originally expected Echo 1 to have a useful life nogreater than about ten days. Tt is impossible to say how long the satellite will continue to serve its original function as a reflectorof electromagnetic radiation, but NASA now estimate that it will stay in orbit for about a year. Some 400 voice and CW transmis-sions have been relayed from Echo 1, 24 of these being across the Atlantic. A recent advertisement by Varian Associates, of PaloAlto, California, describes the klystron amplifier system (type VA-800C) built into the aerial of an 85ft parabolic dish aerial fortranmissions relayed by Echo between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the US. The frequency chosen was 2,390Mc/s and theoutput lOkW. ANTI-NEEDLES Speaking before the General Assembly of the InternationalScientific Radio Union on September 15, Prof A. C. B. Lovell (Jodrell Bank director) emphasized that Project Needles, suggested by the US Air Force, would seriously hamper radio-astronomyand, indeed, would disrupt the passage of electromagnetic radia- tion to and from the earth. Needles is intended to be a relativelycheap method of providing global radio communications, of par- ticular interest to Strategic Air Command. It involves the placingin orbit of many thousands of small "fibres" of metal foil tuned to half the wavelength of the chosen radio transmission and actingas resonant dipoles. The foil would behave like radar chaff ("Window") and would introduce random and spurious signals orinterruptions in existing earth/space communication. ":..-•.. ::?....
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
