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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0753.PDF
751 FLIGHT International, 10 May 1962 The first in a series of three planned rocket launchings in a joint US/Japanese programme of ionospheric studies was carried out from Wallops Island, Virginia, on April 26. Right, the Nike Cajun rocket is launched carrying a Japanese radio-frequency resonance probe and a Langmuir probe supplied by NASA. Above, Dr Kunio Hirao (left) and Mr Toshio Muraoka with the Cajun at Wallops Island On this occasion the XLR-99 engine failed to ignite on Armstrong's first attempt after air-launch from the B-52, but responded a few seconds later. The series of tests of the adaptive control system was completed with a 13min flight by Armstrong on April 20. The 50th X-15 flight was made on April 19 in a test of an emer gency flight-control system by Joseph Walker. Flying the first machine, Walker completed a 9min flight in which the stability augmentation system was switched off twice and the emergency system used. This test was in preparation for the high-altitude flight of April 30. A secondary objective was to devise an improved technique for re-entry. Walker made a "straight down" descent to 70,000ft, during which he encountered a force of 5g, and then began the shallow glide back to base. With full power and a shal low angle of climb, the aircraft had achieved a speed of 3,920 m.p.h. and a height of 150,000ft. Astronautics for Teachers A one-day symposium devoted to astronautics in the school curriculum is being organized by the British Interplanetary Society at Northampton College of Ad vanced Technology, London, on Saturday, May 26. Registration fee for the meeting is 12s 6d; details are available from the Society at 12 Bessborough Gardens, London SW1. European Space Symposium for Paris The second European symposium on space technology will be held in the Hotel Majestic, Paris, during June 18-20. The meeting is being organized jointly by the British Interplanetary Society, the Societe Francaise d'Astro- nautique, and^the industrial consortium Eurospace, and is described as being "mainly industrial in character." USAF Satellite Launch A satellite was launched by the US Air Force from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on April 28, using a Thor Agena B vehicle. No further information was realeased. Italian Satellite Planned According to Prof Luigi Broglio, chairman of the Italian Space Research Commission, and Prof Giovanni Polvani, president of the National Research Council, an Italian satellite will be launched before the end of next year by a Scout vehicle provided by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The launch will be made from a floating platform, probably off Madagascar. Weight of the satellite was quoted as over 100kg, and the purpose of the experiment was stated to be to study re-entry problems and obtain meteorological data. US/German Space Co-operation Herr Siegfried Balke, West German Atomic Energy Minister, stated in Washington recently that he had begun discussions with NASA officials which he hoped would lead to US/German collaboration in space. He stated that West Germany planned to develop instruments which could be launched into orbit in American satellites. The 85ft diameter antenna of the Goldstone tracking station, California (part of NASA's Deep Space Instrumentation Facility) pictured on April 26 during the tracking of the Ranger 4 lunar probe, which was destroyed on impact with the Moon on that day UNESCO Looks at Man in Space An international symposium on the theme of "Basic environmental problems of Man in Space" is to be held in Paris from October 29 to November 2, 1962. The meeting is to be organized jointly by the International Astronautical Federation and the International Academy of Astronautics, with the support and co-operation of UNESCO, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization. Academy Elections Recently elected members of the International Academy of Astronautics include Dr D. G. King-Hele of the Space Department, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough; Dr Zdenek Kopal, Department of Astronomy, Manchester Univer sity; Prof Cecil C. F. Powell, Department of Physics, Bristol University; Arthur C. Clarke, former chairman of the British Interplanetary Society; and Sir Geoffrey Taylor, Trinity College, Cambridge University. Rocket Models A new sport has emerged in the Soviet Union— the construction and flying of model rockets. On the first anniver sary of Yuri Gagarin's orbital flight of April 12, 1961, the first Moscow regional competitions for rocket modellers were held. A total of 170 schoolchildren competed for the Yuri Gagarin Challenge Trophy, which was won by a team from the young technicians' centre of the Chkalovskaya settlement. Typical performance of the rockets was quoted as a height of 1,000ft in 4-5sec, with recovery of the models by parachute.
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