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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0108.PDF
FLIGHT, 27 January 19C! Missiles and Spaceflight. . . hot (1,000 °F) reactor cores were fired against granite, compactedearth, and water at high speed (500ft/sec) resulted in very little damage and no danger.Present planning calls for the ejection of SNAP generators when a space vehicle aborts on the launching pad, thus permittingrecovery of the SNAP unit intact. If a second-stage or third- stage booster aborted on a vehicle carrying a SNAP unit, the latterwould be far enough downrange for it to fall into the water. If a first-stage unit aborted, the SNAP unit core would impact attemperatures up to 1,000 °F and speeds as high as 500ft/sec, which is within its ability to withstand. In the case of a thrust disalign-ment or failure of the final stage, causing re-entry, analysis indicates that the cores and generators would burn up in theatmosphere. Before too long, Col Connor indicated, Atlas missiles would beused to launch pods into space from which test models of SNAP cores and generators might be dropped to check heat-transfereffects. Flare materials and dyes would be used to determine the point of release of different substances in the core and therebygain some knowledge of particle size and the upper-air mixing patterns during re-entry of one of these units. AMERICA'S BUDGET President Eisenhower presented his last budget to Congress onJanuary 16, four days before passing the reins to Mr Kennedy. Although likely to be amended by the Democratic administration,the figures (for fiscal year 1962) at least give a clear indication of American thinking. Out of a budget of $80,900m (about(£28,890m), the total for defence is $42,900m (£ 15,300m), repre- senting an increase of $ 1,400m (£500m) over FY 61. This defenceincrease is nearly 75 per cent of the total increase in the overall budget. Strategic missiles will cost four times as much as mannedbombers, and, whereas "additional effort" is being applied to the B-70 programme, B-52 and B-58 production will cease next year. Mr Eisenhower continued, "By the end of the 1962 financialyear the iargest part of the planned squadrons of the Atlas ballistic- missile system will be operational, and a significant number of theplanned Titan missiles will be in place and ready. The first Minuteman missiles are scheduled to become operational duringthe 1962 calendar year. Funds are requested for five additional Polaris submarines. Procurement of the appropriate number ofPolaris missiles to arm the submarines is also planned, as is the continued development of a much longer range version of thePolaris missile." According to a report from Washington on January 17 authorityhas been received for the installation of Polaris missiles in the nuclear-powered USS Long Beach. Already armed with Talosand Terrier missiles, this 14,000-ton cruiser would be the first surface ship to carry a ballistic missile operationally. Other shipsdue to join the fleet in the Fiscal Year under review include four Polaris submarines, three other nuclear submarines, the vastnuclear-powered carrier Enterprise and several missile-armed destroyers. Total budget for space projects has risen from last year's $770mto $965m (about £344m), and Mr Eisenhower described as "hope- ful" the prospect that America could recover a man from Earthorbit this year. An unmanned lunar satellite should be launched this year, and probes to Mars and Venus in 1963. 8EA 8COUT A four-stage, solid-propellant booster known as Sea Scout is beingconsidered by the US Navy as a launching vehicle for satellites, probably in connection with the Transit navigation-satellite pro-gramme. The new booster consists of the two stages of the Polaris missile and the two upper stages of the USAF Blue Scout launcher.It will be capable of being launched from ships and of placing 1501b satellites into 350-mile orbits. The Polaris stages involvedwould be those of the early (short-range) versions of the missile. The X-15 research aircraft now has a new "hot nose," or Q-ball attitutie sensor, developed by Northrop Corporation. This senses the aircraf • s angle of attack and sideslip during entry and exit phases of hypersor > flight, in order to guard against excessive frictional heat NEXT WEEK'S CONFERENCE Strasbourg is the place and January 30 is the opening date for tieEuropean conference to discuss the possible joint developme t of a satellite-launching vehicle. A Ministry of Aviation announc -ment on January 17 stated: The British and French Governments are convening an internationalconference to begin at Strasbourg on January 30 to consider co-operation between European and Commonwealth countries on the development :ifa heavy satellite launcher. The object of the conference will be to stui y the technical and financial possibilities of international co-operati< nwith a view to the development of a satellite launcher utilizing the rocket Blue Streak, capable of putting heavy satellites into orbit, and thedevelopment of a first series of satellite test vehicles as a preliminary to the possible exploitation of satellites for various uses.The British and French Governments have not yet themselves taken any decision to undertake the development of these equipments. Theywish, however, to discuss the desirability and possibility of doing so in conjunction with other interested Governments. The co-operativeventure envisaged would not be concerned in any way with the military use of launchers or satellites. The scope of this co-operation wouldcomplement but not overlap the activities of the projected European Space Research Organization.Joint invitations to the conference have been issued to the following European countries : Belgium, Denmark, the Federal German Republic.the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. During the past week representatives from ten Europeancountries have been meeting in London to discuss the technical aspects of a launcher programme. They have been given an outline of the workalready carried out in the United Kingdom and talks have been held on the additional work that would be needed to develop launcher vehicles.Mr Thorneycroft, the Minister of Aviation, will be the chief British representative at the Strasbourg Conference. He has already hadexploratory discussions with many of the Governments which have been invited. Recently he visited the Federal German Republic, Denmarkand Norway. He is also visiting Italy and Switzerland. Mr Thorneycroft left London for Rome on January 18, leftRome for Berne on January 22, and was due back in London on January 23. Speaking in Rome on January 22, the Minister saidthat he hoped that the proposed three-stage booster would be ready for launching in five years' time. Before that, eight experi-mental firings would be necessary. Britain would offer as her initial contribution all the non-military information acquired indeveloping Blue Streak, which Mr Thorneycroft valued at £60m. The total cost was estimated at a further £70m, and member-countries of the proposed European space club would be expected to contribute in proportion to their national product, with Italy'sshare at about £1.5m a year for five years. Upper stages of Saturn are to be powered by an improved Pratt andWhitney oxygen/hydrogen engine designated LR119. This news is given in an article on the company's first such engine, beginning on page 131. A J-series Titan ICBM suffered a malfunction in flight during a TCRIof its radio/inertial guidance system on January 20. The second stage failed to ignite after separation, and both stages fell into the Atlanticabout 100 miles down-range from Cape Canaveral. The US Government has approved a plan by the American Telephoneand Telegraph Co to develop voice and television communications by Earth satellites on an experimental basis. Initially a prototype active-repeater satellite will be launched, capable of operating for 35min four times per day. The first Polaris submarine, USS George Washington, returned toher home base at New London, Conn, on January 22. She thus ended the first Fleet Ballistic Missile patrol, having been submerged in undis-closed waters since October 27. She broke by one week the record of 60 days for submerged endurance, previously established by Seawolf. Nord-Aviation recently demonstrated the SS.ll wire-guided missileto the Italian Army in mountainous locations at more than 6,500ft alti- tude. The missiles and their ancillary equipment were carried up byinfantrymen; the Italians provided targets at distances between 6,500 and 10,000ft, in some cases with up to 1,000ft difference in altitude,and all were destroyed. On January 11 it was announced in Washington that the Sovietmissile-tracking ships Sibir, Chukhotka and Sakhalin, were taking up stations south-west of Hawaii, presumably preparatory to a new seriesof long-range shots. Six days later a fourth ship was detected some 1,000 miles south of Attu, in the Aleutians, completing a chain ofvessels between Hawaii and Kamchatka. On the night of January !3 a USAF radar station in the Aleutians claimed that it had tracked aSoviet missile which "fell short" of the target area previously used. On an undisclosed date in December, some 600gal of liquid oxygi nescaped from a Thor emplacement at Ludford, Lines, during routine training. The Air Ministry later announced that not only the officercommanding the squadron at the base—doubtless the former airfield 'f Ludford Magna—but also the group captain commanding the Hemsw 11complex (of which the Ludford squadron forms one-fifth) had bern posted to "other appointments."
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