FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1738.PDF
844 FLIGHT, 30 November 1961 The missile launchings pictured on the right marked major milestones for their respective weapon systems. The Minuteman ICBM was success- fully launched from its silo at Cape Canaveral for the first time on November 17, and an on-target impact was achieved 3,000 miles down- range. The Nike Zeus (far right) was launched from Point Mugu on its first long-range firing on November 16 Missiles and Spaceflight CHRYSLER TO BUILD SATURN BOOSTER A S200m contract for the construction of 20 S-l first stages for theSaturn C-l launch vehicle is being negotiated between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Chrysler Corpora-tion of Detroit. Check-out, test and launching is also included in the contract, and as part of the proposal the Aerojet-General Cor-poration will assist in static testing and provide launch support. The 20 Chrysler-built boosters, to be made at NASA's Michoudplant near New Orleans, will follow ten prototype S-ls which are being built by NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center at Hunts-ville. Chrysler's work at Michoud and elsewhere will be directed by the Marshall centre, and Chrysler personnel will be trained atthe Marshall Fabrication and Assembly Division. The advanced Saturn booster stage, the S-1B, will also be builtat Michoud but by a different contractor. Five industrial proposals for this contract were received on November 8 and are beingevaluated by NASA. TIROS, NIMBUS, AEROS DISCUSSED The International Meteorological Satellite Workshop orgmizedjointly by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the US Weather Bureau end^d in Washington on Wednesday oflast week (November 22). DelegUes from 2/ nations had attended the mseting (described in Flight for November 16), with theSoviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia having accepted but failing to send representatives. In addition to familiarizing thosepresent with details of the current Tiros meteorological satellite system, the programme included an account of the proposed futureoperational system which it is hop:d to establish und;r the authority of the US Weather Bureau. Details of this proposed system aregiven on pages 846-7. The spacecraft involved in the three-piiase schema are Tiros, Nimbus and Aeros. The primary instrumsntation of Tiros comprises two wide-angle television cameras, and scanning and non-scanning radiation detectors. The satellite is spin-stabilized in spice, i.e., its cameras arenot continuously aim;d at ths Earth's surface. A typical orbit is at 450-500 miles altitude, inclined at approximately 48 to the equator. Nimbus will differ from Tiros in two major respects: the satellitewill be placed in polar orbit at about 700 miles and it will be Earth- oriented, so that during a 24-hour period complete global coveragewill be obtained. The same basic Nimbus spacecraft will be used both for initial R and D launches and for operational use. The sensory system of Nimbus 1 will include a vidicon camerasystem to provide complete coverage of the globe; a radiation sub- system including high-resolution sensors for night-time cloud obser-vations and low-resolution sensors for measurements of the Earth/ atmosphere heat balance; and devices to measure solar radiation ofimportance to meteorology. Later Nimbus satellites may test new and improved sensors such as electrostatic tape cameras, spectro-meters, image orthicon cameras and radar. To supplement and amplify the data obtained from Nimbussatellites, NASA hopes to begin research and development next year on the Aeros family of weather satellites. Aeros would be similarin external appearance to Nimbus, but would be placed in equatorial orbit at the 24-hour, stationary or synchronous orbital height of22,300 miles. Continuous observation of particular developing storm areas would here be the aim, and the instrumentation wouldprobably include a variable-focus television camera in order to view the chosen areas in greater detail. SOVIET ROCKETRY CLAIMS On November 19, Artillery Day in the Soviet Union, a number of radio and press announcements referred to the capabilities of Soviet rockets. In an article in Red Star, Chief Marshal of Artillery Sergei Varentsov, commander of Soviet rocket forces and artillery, said that "the fire-power of the Soviet armed forces has now attained CONTROLSECTION HORIZOSCANNE GASTANK WIDE ANGLETV CAMERAS TV CAMERAS ELECTROSTATIC CAMERA .R SCANNER t- - The main differences between the existing Tiros and the forthcoming Nimbus meteorological satellites are indicated in these sketches, which amplif the descriptions given in the news item above. The proposed US plan for an operational weather-satellite system is outlined on pages 846-
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
