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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1441.PDF
FLIGHT International, 15 August 1963 259 Missiles and Spaceflight News COSMOS 19 On August 6 the Soviet news agency Tass made the following an nouncement : "A routine launching of an artificial Earth satellite, Cosmos 19, was carried out in the Soviet Union today. The satel lite carries scientific apparatus designed to continue researches in outer space in accordance with the programme announced by Tass M March 16,1962. "The satellite has been placed into an orbit with the following parameters: initial period of revolution, 92.2min; maximum dis tance from the Earth's surface, 519km; minimum distance, 270km; angle of inclination of orbit to the plane of the equator, 49°. "Apart from scientific apparatus the satellite carries a radio transmitter operating on a frequency of 90.022Mc/s; a radio system for the exact measurement of the elements of the orbit; a radio- telemetric system for transmitting to Earth data on the work of the instruments and scientific apparatus. The apparatus in the satellite is working normally and the co-ordinating-computing centre is processing the incoming information." NEW BLACK KNIGHT PROGRAMME Britain, Australia and the USA are to co-operate in a programme oi basic research into the physical phenomena associated with the re-entry of bodies into the Earth's atmosphere. The understanding of these phenomena, the Ministry of Aviation states, "may help in the development of new means for the identification and tracking of re-entry bodies." This project, known as Dazzle, will employ the Black Knight vehicle designed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and the RAE will also design the re-entry objects to be carried by the Black Knights in the Dazzle experiments. After being carried into space by the primary'rockets, the re-entry bodies will be fired back into the atmosphere at high velocity by a second stage. The vehicles will be launched from the Woomera range in Australia by the Weapons Research Establishment. The instru mentation used to observe the re-entry of the objects will be provided by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US De fense Department, and British and Australian scientists will work together to analyse the data obtained. RADAR ESTABLISHMENT TR ACKS [S YNCO M 2 The Ministry of Aviation satellite tracking team at the Royal Radar Establishment, led by Dr Scott Murray, have been tracking NASA's Syncom 2 communication satellite since July 26. Speech signals "of broadcast quality" have been received, originating from all stations in the US Syncom network, including USNS Kingsport in Lagos Harbour, and ground stations in New Jersey and California. The equipment which has been used includes the 45ft precision tracking microwave aerial, a multi-channel receiving system, a computer for the translation of satellite orbital data into digital control signals for aerial pointing, and a digital system for recording observed satellite azimuth and elevation. Syncom 2 was injected into near-synchronous orbit on July 26 above the east coast of Mozambique. At that time the satellite was man orbit with an apogee of 22,632 miles and a perigee of 21,180 miles. It was drifting eastward at a rate of about 7£° per day. On July 27 the first of the in-orbit manucevres was commanded from the Kingsport anchored in Lagos Harbour. The adjustment was made by firing the satellite's hydrogen peroxide jet system along ihe spin axis of the satellite. This increased the apogee height and changed the drift from 7J° east per day to 4£° west per day. A second manoeuvre was made on July 31 to align the satellite's aerial so that its radiating beam always contacts the Earth. The re-orientation was accomplished by pulsing the hydrogen peroxide gas jet system in synchronization with the satellite's spin rate. In two series of pulses, Syncom 2 was turned about 85° with respect to its orbital path. Another result of the re-orientation manoeuvre was to increase the westward drift of the spacecraft to almost 7° per day. The final manoeuvre, to stop the westward drift and place the The second Shotput sounding-rocket flight in the joint US/Italian San Marco project was made from Wallops Island on August 2. Payload, launch vehicle and telemetry performed as planned. The 177.51b San Marco test satellite reached an altitude of 183 miles and landed 606 miles downrange in the Atlantic. No recovery was planned satellite on station above the 55° W meridian, was being made as this issue closed for press. A second system using nitrogen gas was being used as well as the hydrogen peroxide system. San Marco Test Illustrated above is the Italian San Marco pay- load which was launched by Shotput sounding rocket to a height of 183 miles from Wallops Island on August 2. As in the first San Marco launch by Shotput, the primary objective was to ascertain the operational performance of the dynamic balance developed by Prof Luigi Broglio and his group at the Aerospace Research Centre in Rome. This is designed to provide data for the calculation of variations in atmospheric density by measuring atmospheric drag on the satellite. Shortly after the Shotput launch, a Nike- Cajun was launched from Wallops in order to obtain data on ambient air density to aid in the evaluation of the Italian experiment. Space Films Three films on space topics will be shown at the American Embassy Theatre (Upper Brook Street entrance), London, on Wednesday, September 4 at 6.30 p.m. They are The Clouds of Venus, the story of Mariner 2; Men and Space, depicting research activities in the field of bio-astronautics; and Ariel—the First International Satellite. Admission is free. HMS Kent Commissioned HMS Kent, the third of the County- Class destroyers armed with Seaslug Mk 1 and Seacat missiles, is due to commission at Belfast today, August 15. Built by HarJand and Wolff, her equipment also includes a Wessex ASW helicopter. Russian Missiles for India ? During the past two weeks numerous unofficial reports have been received from India describing negotia tions with the Soviet Union for the supply of Russian surface-to- air weapon systems. It is said that an Indian delegation has during this period been in Moscow and Prague discussing a possible con tract. The Russian financial terms are described as "stiff," but the Russians are said to be willing to provide teams of instructors. Indonesian Missile Firing On July 23 the Indonesian Navy an nounced in Jakarta the successful firing of a surface-to-surface guided missile "hitting a predetermined target 15 miles away." It has proved impossible to obtain further details of this weapon, which may well be of Soviet origin. The Jakarta message states merely that it can be fired under any weather conditions and is designed for use against destroyers and heavier naval vessels.
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