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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0734.PDF
744 FLIGHT, 1 te 1961 Missiles and Spaceflight AMERICAN ON THE MOON IN 1970 In a prepared address read before both Houses of Congress inWashington on May 25, President Kennedy openly committed his nation to an all-out race with the Soviet Union in the entire field ofspace research. In particular, he said, "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, oflanding a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. No single space project will be more exciting, or more impressive, ormore important for the long-run exploration of space. And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish." He called for Congress to approve additional space expenditureof from ?7,000m to §9,000m during the coming five years, and he specifically asked for an immediate injection of a supplementary$ 1,400m for the 1962 fiscal year to cover a variety of space, defence and foreign-aid programmes. Out of this sum, $531m is for theMan-on-the-Moon programme, SI44.5m is allocated to large boosters (including the first vote for Nova airframes), SI30.5m isto be injected into the Apollo programme for a three-man space- craft for Earth orbit and Lunar landing, an additional S23m is ear-marked for the Rover nuclear rocket, $50m will speed the develop- ment of communications satellites and an extra §75m is requestedto accelerate "a satellite system of world-wide weather observation." In perspective, the President's proposals will result in the originalfiscal 1962 NASA budget being increased from 81,109,630,000 to $1,784,300,000 (an increase of 61 per cent). On the same day, Mr James E. Webb, administrator of NASA,outlined some of the accomplishments which the increased financing should make possible. The plan for soft Lunar landings of instru-ments (Surveyor, followed by Prospector) is being brought forward, so that "during 1963 at the latest" Lunar data and samples of theMoon's surface should have been returned to Earth. Earth orbit by manned Apollos should be possible in the calendar year 1964,following which an Apollo with its complete three-man crew will be sent into Lunar orbit to survey possible landing areas. "Finallyduring 1967, if all goes well, but by 1969 at the latest, the landing of men on the Moon will take place. The journey is expected to takeabout five days. The men will stay on the moon for a few days and then make the return trip, which will also take about five days." EUROPEAN SPACE INDUSTRY Potentially the most significant meeting held during the Paris Salon(pages 734-743) was that on May 28 of representatives of most of the major industrial groups interested in forming a Western Euro-pean industrial aero-s-pace union. This international group is an entirely new concept, for it is to be completely comprehensive andembraces all the members of the other consortiums already estab- lished. Limited objectives were aimed at on May 28, but the groundwas laid for further discussions. It is also pertinent to note that, although there was no official communique, it is clear that themeetings between the British and German Ministers of Defence and the British Minister of Aviation have ironed out most of themajor difficulties attendant upon the Government-sponsored European space programme based upon Blue Streak. A favourableGerman decision at an early date has been widely forecast. OUTSTANDING VIGILANT PERFORMANCE Although, doubtless for reasons of timing, the Vickers-ArmstrongsV.897 Vigilant has failed to win an inventory contract from the US Army—who chose Entac, as reported on May 18—theBritish weapon has given further proof of its technical superiority in the field of infantry anti-tank missiles. British Aircraft Corpora-tion announced on May 24 that, at a demonstration before NATO officers "somewhere in Europe," 11 direct hits were scored againstmoving tanks with 13 rounds. The announcement said that the show was specially designed toprove that an infantryman with the missile could knock out tanks single-handed at ranges from nearly a mile down to 200yd. Fornearly all the shots the tank was behind a ridge, and showing only half of its small gun-turret. Twice the turret was showing foronly 20sec. Although the missiles were not fitted with live war- heads, the tank was "quite badly damaged." After 12 missileshad been fired, the senior general asked the Corporation's missile trials team to engage a tank at 200yd while it was travelling atmore than 20 m.p.h. "This most testing shot of all resulted in a hit on the inside of the tracks of the tank just underneath theturret." SEACAT POTENTIOMETER Short Bros & Harland Ltd can now reveal brief details of the metal-film potentiometer which they have developed as part of a cordite-driven gyro for the Seacat close-range ship-to-air missile. The first launch of a Minuteman, on Feb- ruary I, could hardly have been more suc- cessful; but the second, on May 19, ended in destruction by the range safety officer after about 90sec. As seen here, the lift-off was satisfactory, but the new ICBM de- parted from its tra- jectory after second- stage ignition Owing to the extreme miniaturization demanded in the application it was considered that no normal wire-wound potentiometer could fulfil the design task, and the company's Precision Engineering Division at Castlereagh developed a method of replacing the wire by a film of metal less than O.OOOOOlin thick. Deposition of the metal is accomplished by heating a small piece of it—usually a Ni-Cr alloy—to about 2,5OO°C under extreme vacuum conditions. The metal vaporizes, and condenses evenly on all unmasked portions of the high-temperature ceramic used as a former. Means have been found for making the deposited film very regular and free from all variation in thickness. The wiper arm thus makes a perfect contact at every point—a factor of great value in applications where it is desirable for wiper travels of the order of OOOlin to be detected. This deposition process is to be employed under licence by Miniature Electronic Components Ltd, of Woking, Surrey, who during their 18 months' existence have made a speciality of sub- miniaturization. Among their other products are a range of potentiometers and resistors made under licence from three US firms, and their customers include "all leading" British manufac- urers of missiles and aircraft electronics, and the computer industry. A Titan ICBM made a full-range flight down the Atlantic MissileRange before dawn on May 24. Certificates of honour for exemplary work in the observation ofsatellites have been awarded by the Astronomical Council of the Soviet Academy of Sciences to a group of students and scientists of UzhgorodState University. The first flight Saturn SA-1 vehicle is ready for static firings at theMarshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, Alabama. It is hoped to complete a full-tanks run at 1,320,0001b thrust for 125sec, and manyfunctional tests, before shipment by barge to the Cape. Prof Sir Bernard Lovell, OBE, FRS. Professor of Radio Astronomyat the University of Manchester and director of the Nuffleld Radio Astronomy Laboratories at Jodrell Bank, has accepted the appointmentof scientific advisor to the British Space Development Co Ltd. In a lead-story with a Paris date-line, the Sunday Telegraph of May 28forecast the appointment of an RAF director of requirements for space projects. It was claimed that the RAF is formulating requirements fornavigation and communications satellites, satellite interrogation and satellite destruction by ground-based weapons. Convair's improved Model E Atlas achieved its second success inseven launchings on the night of May 12. A 5,000-mile flight was made down the Atlantic Missile Range, a 301b data capsule being retrievedfrom the ocean near Ascension Island about an hour after impact. This is about 60 per cent of the ultimate range with full payload. Tory II A-l, the nuclear reactor intended for research into possiblenuclear ramjet propulsion systems, was successfully operated for the first time on May 14. A power of 40MW thermal was held for 45sec,at a core temperature of about 2,000°F. Later testing will steadily increase the power, until the design power of 150MW is attained.The applications of the eventual engine are primarily atmospheric, rather than concerned with space. Speaking in the French National Assembly on May 4, M. Guillaumat,Minister for Public Functions, suggested that a first possibility for a joint European space programme could be a heavy Earth satelliteequipped with instruments for astronomical observation. A second project, which should be feasible within the next seven years, would beto equip a heavy lunar satellite to be launched by a powerful rockci not yet available, after which an automatic observatory might be sent to theMoon.
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