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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0972.PDF
72 Missiles and Space flight . . . communications using an active repeater satellite. The contractis worth $3.25m and will be negotiated and managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center. The RCA proposal was one of sevensubmitted to Goddard. The Relay satellite will weigh about 1001b and its designedorbital altitude extends to some 3,000 miles. The satellite will be launched by a Delta vehicle from Cape Canaveral. As alreadyreported, the British GPO and the French Centre for Telecom- munications Studies have agreed to provide ground stations for thetransmission of signals in connection with Project Relay. RECORD ORBIT BY MIDAS 3 Using the "kick in the apogee" technique, the re-start ability ofthe Agena B second stage was employed to good effect in the Atlas-Agena launch of the USAF Midas 3 missile-detection satellitefrom Point Arguello. California on July 12. A 2hr 40min near- circular polar orbit at a height of no less than 1,850 miles wasachieved by the satellite which, including the second stage of the launch vehicle, weighed 3,5001b and measured 30ft in length. To test the satellite's infra-red detection equipment which isintended to detect the heat of rocket exhausts in missile launchings, it was planned to check Midas 3 in conjunction with plannedfirings from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base. The July 12 launch followed an ignition failure on the pad onJuly 10, and earlier technical delays. The proposed warning network envisaged by the USAF involves8-12 Midas satellites in orbit around the Earth. Previous launches in the programme comprised that of Midas 1, which failed to enterorbit on February 26, 1960; and Midas 2, which achieved orbit on May 24, 1960 but suffered a radio failure which rendered theexperiment inconclusive. The Agena B stage used on July 12 was longer and heavier than those used in previous attempts, as aresult of increased fuel tankage. The height of Tiros 3 came as a surprise after the USAF had announced in advance that a 500-mileorbit was hoped for. THIRD WEATHER SATELLITE LAUNCHED In one of the two successful US satellite launchings on July 12,the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Tiros 3 meteorological satellite was placed in orbit at 461-506 miles altitudeby Thor-Delta vehicle from Cape Canaveral. The overall objective was to obtain television pictures of cloud formationsand infra-red measurements of heat balance in the atmosphere, and to transmit both pictures and measurements to ground stationsfor meteorological analysis and limited operational use. In par- ticular, it was hoped to study the origin and development ofhurricanes, which are customarily numerous during the projected lifetime of the satellite. In orbit with an inclination of 47.8°, thesatellite had an initial period of 100.4min. Cylindrical in shape (measuring 42in in diameter and 19in high),Tiros 3 weighs 2851b and carries two wide-angle television cameras (unlike Tiros 1 and Tiros 2, which each used one wide-angle andone narrow-angle camera). Magnetic tape recorders are used to store up to 32 pictures during each orbit for transmission to Earthwhen the satellite is within 1,500 miles command range of a ground station. Improved remote-control programmers for the electronicequipment and new transistorized circuits in the electronic clocks which trigger the cameras are fitted. Other instrumentation,including beacon transmitters, attitude sensors, horizon scanners, FLIGHT, 20 July 1961 The successful launch of Midas 3 by Atlas-Agena 8 from Pt Arguello on July 12 is reported on this page. This picture shows the unsuccessful launch attempt with the same vehicle on July 10. An extended Agena B stage was used and, on July 12, the second-stage engine was re-started successfully in flight, "kicking" the satellite into its 1,850-mile orbit telemetry circuits and a magnetic orientation control system, isidentical to that used in Tiros 2. As in Tiros 2, also, the satellite contains infra-red radiationexperiments to measure Sun-Earth radiation relationships. Power for the operation of electronic equipment is provided by nickel-cadmium batteries charged by 9.260 solar cells. There are five radio transmitters; one for each of the two cameras, one to relayinfra-red data, and two tracking beacons which telemeter satellite environmental data. The two primary ground stations are atWallops Island, Virginia, and at the Pacific MissUe Range, Cali- fornia. The launching vehicle comprised a modified Douglas Thor asfirst stage; an Aerojet General liquid-propellant second stage; and an Allegany Ballistic Laboratory X-248 solid-propellant thirdstage. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has overall tech- nical direction of the project, and the Astro-Electronics ProductsDivision of RCA designed the television system and assembled and tested the payload. The Meteorological Satellite Laboratory ofthe US Weather Bureau will analyse the meteorological data, while the three infra-red radiation experiments are the responsibility ofthe Goddard centre and Dr Vernon Suomi of the University of Wisconsin. Two new companies have joined the British Space DevelopmentCo Ltd, bringing the total number of member-firms to eleven The newcomers are Elliott-Automation Ltd and C. A. Parsons & Co Ltd,and their representatives on the BSDC Technical Committee will be respectively Mr W. R. Thomas, joint general manager of Elliott Bros(London), and Dr H. M. Finniston, deputy research director of C. A. Parsons. The 3001b re-entry capsule of the USAF Discover 26 satellite launchedfrom Vandenberg Air Force Base by Thor-Agena B on July 7, was successfully recovered in mid-air north-west of Hawaii on July 9. Amajor objective of the launch was the systems evaluation of the Agena stage, emphasising the testing of recently changed components. A multi-stage, solid-propellant sounding rocket was launched to aheight of 50 miles from a site on the Mediterranean coast of Israel on July 5. A sodium-cloud experiment was used to obtain meteorologicaldata. The rocket was designated Comet 2 and was stated to have been planned, constructed and fired by Israeli scientists and technicians. The payload for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration'sS-51 international ionosphere satellite (the first joint US/UK satellite otherwise known as UK Scout 1) is being developed and built byWashington Technological Associates Inc of Rockville, Maryland The NASA contract for this is for $84,450. A contract worth $1,515,710 has been awarded by the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration to General Electric Co of Philadelphia for the design and development of a stabilization andcontrol subsystem for the Nimbus meteorological satellite and the supply of a "pre-prototype and a prototype." Model of the Advent communications satellite, to be used in a joint Army INavyj Air Force project to test the feasibility of microwave satellite communications. "Synchronous" orbits at 22,300 miles are planned
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