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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1897.PDF
704 FLIGHT International, 24 October 1963 Missiles and Spaceflight Introducing Coralie Nord-Aviation announced on October 7 that the whole of the work involved in developing the second stage of the European Launcher Development Organization's three- stage launcher had been assigned to the Vernon Aerodynamic Research Laboratory in co-operation with Nord-Aviation. "Pre liminary studies are to be carried out by these two organizations under the direction of SEREB," the company stated. "The second stage, named Coralie, has a take-off weight of 11,500kg. Its booster uses nitrogen peroxide and dimethylhydrazine to produce a 30-ton thrust." Radiation Data from TRS Satellites The US Air Force announced last month that the first two in the TRS (tetrahedral research satellite) series of satellites, released from unidentified Air Force payloads in orbit "within the past few months," had transmitted back to Earth data on radiation damage in space which would help in the design and construction of future manned and unmanned spacecraft. Mr R. G. Downing of Space Technology Laboratories, manufacturers of the TRS, said that one of the significant findings so far was that glass sheet only 0.006in thick could reduce the damage caused by radiation to solar cells. The TRS satellites measure only 6in along each side and weigh 1.51b. each. Syncom 2 Aids Oceanographic Survey Oceanographic data collected in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Africa was trans mitted via the Syncom 2 communication satellite to the USA on September 19. This represents the first occasion on which such data has been transmitted by satellite. Data obtained by the US Bureau of Commercial Fisheries' research vessel Geronimo as part of an international survey of the tropical Atlantic ocean were coded and relayed to the Syncom station aboard the USNS Kingsport in Lagos Harbour, Nigeria. From the Kingsport the information was transmitted via Syncom 2 to the ground station at Lakehurst, New Jersey, from where it was conveyed along conventional ground lines to the National Oceanographic Data Center in Washington. At this centre the readings were checked and error-corrections were transmitted back to the Geronimo. The demonstration via Syncom was performed in order to investigate the possible speeding-up of transmission of such information to research ships. Saturn V Simulator A massive steel structure which will be used to simulate the first stage of the Saturn V space vehicle is being built at Martin Company's Baltimore Division for NASA's Marshal Space Flight Center. The simulator will be employed to test Saturn's ground-handling, launch and test stand erection equipment. The structure is being built in 140 pieces, including 90 sub-assemblies, and will be assembled and welded at Huntsville after delivery. Ten concrete blocks weighing 90,0001b will be inserted at the bottom of the structure to simulate the weight of the engines. Third Tiros Station in Business A third command and data- acquisition station for the Tiros meteorological satellite programme, located at Fairbanks, Alaska, became operational on September 15. Other Tiros stations are at Wallops Island, Virginia, and Point Mugu, California. US/Scandinavian Agreement The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Scandinavian Committee for Satellite Telecommunications (representing Denmark, Norway and Sweden) have concluded an agreement concerning the testing of experimental communications satellites launched by NASA. In the agreement the Scandinavian Committee will provide a ground station to receive multi-channel telephonic or telegraphic signals transmitted from the US ground station via an orbiting communications satellite. The signals transmitted by means of the satellite will be for experimental purposes only and not for commercial exploitation. Lear-Siegler at Huntsville Additional test equipment for use in the development of the Saturn V launch vehicle is to be supplied to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville by the Electronics Instrumentation Division of Lear-Siegler Inc. The In a recent vacuum test of this space simulator at Douglas Aircraft Company's Space Systems Center at Huntington Beach, California, helium was injected into a plastic bag completely enclosing the 39ft diameter chamber, which was then checked for leaks. When operational, the chamber will be used for testing spacecraft under simulated space environment company has an existing contract worth over $3.7m for such equipment, and a further contract of over $lm is now to be nego tiated. This work will include preliminary testing of instrumenta tion for a dual liquid-hydrogen test position and an acoustic model test position, both located at the components test facility at Marshall. Silo Neutralization Discounted A report in the US magazine Missiles and Rockets quoting unidentified sources as authority for the belief that the Soviet Union may have the ability to "render inactive" ICBMs of the US Air Force, even when the latter are hardened in underground silos, is discounted by the US Govern ment. The claim that in some way an emplaced ICBM can be neutralized by electromagnetic radiation from Soviet thermo nuclear explosions is considered to be a story leaked by agencies in Washington anxious to prevent US ratification of the test-ban treaty. Indian Missiles Fired Last month the Indian Minister for Defence Production, Mr K. Raghu Ramaiah, announced that India had successfully launched "two types of rockets which Indians trained in Britain helped to develop." One of these weapons is for ground- to-air use and the other is an anti-tank missile. An example of each was launched at Hyderabad on May 21. COSPAR for Florence Next year's major meeting of COSPAR, the Committee on Space Research of the International Council of Scientific Unions, will take place in Florence next May. The seventh plenary meeting is scheduled for May 8-20, with the fifth international space science symposium during May 12-16. The symposium will cover the interaction of energetic particles with the atmosphere, life sciences and space research, and latest signifi cant results. Galabert Prizes During his recent visit to Paris, Soviet cosmo naut Yuri Gagarin was a recipient of one of the Galabert prizes for astronautics, awarded annually by the Galabert Foundation. The prize awarded to US Astronaut John Glenn on this occasion was received on Colonel Glenn's behalf by Dr William Pickering. President of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astro nautics.
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