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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0201.PDF
FLIGHT, 17 February 1961 Missiles and Spaceflight TOWARDS VENUS The most significant new space development since Lunik 2 hitthe Moon on September 13, 1959, was the orbital launch of a space probe towards the planet Venus by the Soviet Union onFebruary 12. This was the first launch of a space probe from 3n artificial satellite in orbit around the Earth, and apparentlyexplained much of the mystery which had surrounded the firing of the heavyweight (6i-ton) satellite into a low Earth orbit eightdays before. The initial Tass announcement gave the news as follows: — "In conformity with the Soviet space research programme, a heavyartificial satellite of the Earth was orbited in the Soviet Union on February 12, 1961, by an improved multi-stage rocket. On the samedav a guided space rocket, launched from the sputnik, set an automatic interplanetary station on a flight to the planet Venus."The automatic interplanetary station will reach the area of the planet Venus in the second half of May 1961. The main object of the probeis to check the methods of placing a space body into an interplanetary trajectory, to check radio communications over super-long distances andthe guiding of a space station, to check more exactly the size of the solar system and to carry out a programme of physical observations in outerspace. "Equipment on board the interplanetary station is functioning nor-mally. The weight of the automatic interplanetary station is 643.5kg (1,4181b). Radio transmissions from the automatic interplanetary stationarc made on the frequency of 922.8kc/s (later given as 922.8Mc/s by Moscow Radio) on, command from the Earth."The automatic interplanetary station is carrying a pennant with the coat of arms of the USSR. The flight of the automatic interplanetarystation is being tracked by a special centre. According to information to hand, the automatic interplanetary station is moving along an orbitdose to that calculated. "At 1200 Moscow time today the station was 126,300km (78,500 miles)from the Earth over the point on the Earth's surface at 86° 40' East and 6" 04' North. The successful launching of a space rocket to theplanet Venus blazes the first path to the planets of the solar system." Speaking earlier in Moscow, the principal scientific secretary ofthe Soviet Academy of Sciences, Evgeny Fyodorov, had pointed out that it would be a practical impossibility to set a trajectorywith the necessary accuracy from the start of a flight to Mars or Venus. In-flight corrections would be needed, he said, and thismade it necessary to have reliable communications over distances of over 60 million miles. Commenting on the Tass announcement, Dr I. M. Leavitt,director of the Fells Planetarium, Philadelphia, said: "The interest- ing thing about this new launching is that they are aiming forVenus when it will be more than 30 million miles away, and are planning to cover the distance in about 100 days. The normaltime is over 146 days on the most economical orbit. This would indicate they must have some fuel and guidance system." Dr Hugh Dryden, Deputy Administrator of the US NationalAeronautics and Space Administration, said that, if all went well, the United States would expect to attempt a planetary launchingfrom an Earth satellite in another eighteen months to two years. It appears clear that the launching of the 6i-ton satellite onFebruary 4, about which very little was said by any official Soviet source, was either a preliminary test in connection with the orbitallaunch system or an unsuccessful attempt to launch a probe to Venus. Speaking in Moscow two days before the Venus launch,Prof Leonid Sedov referred to the February 4 satellite as follows:— 201 "On board the satellite there was no special equipment for thescientific study of outer space. Nor were there any experimental animals, for it was the first time such a ship had been launched. The launchingwas purely experimental. "I would also like to note that the rumours which have been spreadabroad to the effect that there is a human being on this satellite do not accord with reality. The main task of this flight was the following: First,the task of placing so big a satellite into orbit, and then the study of the parameters which characterize the operation of its design. Withthis in mind a radio telemetric system was installed on board the satellite to check on the parameters of the elements of the design. "Secondly, a no less important and at the same time very difficulttask is the extremely accurate placing into the planned orbit of a heavy satellite. That was achieved successfully. With the help of equipmentfor trajectory measurements installed on board the satellite the neces- sary measurements and observations were made. With the help of aterrestrial measuring and computing complex it was established that the satellite moves along an orbit the parameters of which come verynear to those of the intended orbit. "No special system for the satellite's return to Earth was providedfor in this experimental launching. Owing to its low orbit the existence of the satellite will be brief, and in the very near future the satellitewill enter dense layers of the atmosphere and cease to exist. The experi- ment carried out with so heavy a satellite which was accurately placedin orbit opens up many possibilities for the installation of improved scientific equipment of sufficiently large dimensions intended for a longperiod of operation, as well as the solution of tasks connected with the study of outer space." At the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Station at Jodrell Bank,Cheshire, there were two main obstacles to the tracking by the 250ft steerable radio telescope of the Venus probe. First, the922.8Mc/s frequency was not one of the standard frequencies received at the station, and a special receiver and aerial had to beset up. Secondly, it was essential to know where and when to look for the probe, since the beam width of the telescope would be onlyone-third of a degree. Work was begun on preparing the equip- ment, and on Monday last, February 13, a telegram was sent bySir Bernard Lovell, professor of radio astronomy at Manchester University and director of the station, to a colleague in Moscow,asking for co-ordinates of the probe to be computed for Jodrell Bank, and for details to be sent of the times during which trans-missions from the probe were being commanded from the ground. DISTURBED BLUE WATERS Last week the West German Army revealed that they had pur-chased a battery (perhaps four launchers) of Sergeant tactical ballistic missiles. This was seized upon by the London SundayTelegraph as implying that the American weapon had been adopted as a standard NATO weapon, concluding: "This meansthat the British Blue Water missile in the same class will find no sale in Europe." As we go to press no evidence is available tojustify this extreme view, although it would be idle to deny that any non-American weapon is—under Kennedy—likely to havean even stiffer fight than before in seeking NATO adoption. Blue Water, the corps-support weapon developed by EnglishElectric Aviation, is a complete weapon system which should be able to do all that Sergeant can do for a very much reduced cost.It is a much smaller missile, and the complete weapon system is a fraction of the weight of that of Sergeant, and has better cross-country performance. Late in 1959 the NATO Military Com- mittee included Blue Water in a list of weapons chosen for jointdevelopment and manufacture by several of the 15 member-nations, and for more than a year the British and German Governmentshave been discussing plans for its joint production. The War Office have demonstrated Blue Water in the USA, and the Britishweapon's technical superiority appears to be generally acknow- ledged. Germany's purchase of a limited quantity of Sergeantsis not unexpected, since this American weapon is some 18 months ahead of Blue Water in timing; but it should not be construed asmeaning that a European weapon has once again been bulldozed out of the way. On February 6 the second stage of a Polaris A2 ignited on the pad at(-ape Canaveral. It flew furiously until impacting some 300yd away, while the first stage burnt on the pad. The Federal German Defence Ministry announced on February 2the purchase of "several hundred" Laura anti-submarine rockets from the Swedish Bofors Co and its French subsidiary. Laura is a simple"nguided rocket, some 78in in length, suitable for mounting on small craft. ' NASA announced at the Marshall Space Flight Center that onFebruary 10 a thrust of 1,550,0001b was achieved briefly during a test on a prototype chamber "connected with the F-l program." This iswe highest thrust achieved in the Western World from a single rocket chamber. Or; February 5 NASA launched from Wallops Island the first of asent1-, (if Aerobee rockets containing; a vacuum flask partially filled with liquy ! hydrogen, carried on a stable platform. The 3031b payload wastaker, to an altitude of 94 miles, and during 5min of weightless flight its brhsviiur was telemetered to Earth. A photographic record was also°otai-,cd, but although the capsule was seen floating in the Atlantic it was not recovered A North American X-15 research aircraft fitted with the new rounded"hot nose" and flown by Maj Robert White, USAF, set up an unofficial world speed record of 2,275 m.p.h. on February 7. The aircraft wasreleased from a B-52 after take-off from Edwards AFB, California. An indefinite suspension of the programming of wide-angle photo-graphs from Tiros 2, the experimental weather-observation satellite launched on November 23, 1960, was announced by NASA onJanuary 19. This followed "a malfunction causing unprogrammed effects in the timing clock operation and the wide-angle camera system".The programming of remote narrow-angle photographs, also, was suspended temporarily pending a study of erratic behaviour. In the Civil Appropriation Accounts published on February 7 it isnoted that the original 195? estimate for the Blue Streak programme was £50m. This figure was revised in 1957 to "between £160m and£200m," and it was later estimated that including deployment costs, the total cost of the project might reach "something of the order of£500m to £600m." Total cost up to March 31 last (immediately before cancellation) was about £67m, of which £23m had gone to the fourmain contractors, £21m had been spent at Spadeadam and about £9.5m was accounted for by installations at Woomera.
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