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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0084.PDF
filGHT International, 9 January 1964 67 Year 1957 1958 1959 I960 1961 1962 1963 Total Launches 2 8 14 19 35 72 55 205 Objects placed in orbit or beyond payloads 2 8 14 21 38 78 72 233 rockets 1 2 8 II 13 43 32 110 fragments 2 3 18 236 78 64 401 total 5 13 22 50 287 199 168 744 Objects still in orbit at 31 Dec 1963 payloads 2 4 II 12 26 39 94 rockets 1 4 7 3 18 16 49 fragments — .—10 207 14 37 268 total 3 8 28 222 58 92 411 Decayed objects 5 10 14 22 65 141 76 333 Yearly census of space- craft and other objects placed in orbit or beyond Launching West Ford dipoles (1963-14) Transit 4A rocket fragments (1961 omicron) Sputnik 22 (1962 beta iota) West Ford test (1962 kappa) Sputnik 4 (1960 epsilon) Number of objects Thousands (not individually numbered) 206 24 Dozen? (not individually numbered) 9 8 each 7 each 6 each 5 each Cosmos 9 (1962 alpha omega); Midas 6 (1963-14); Sputnik 19 (1962 alpha pi) Cosmos 17 (1963-17); Sputnik 21 (1962 alpha phi); Thor Agena launch (1963-21); Centaur 2 (1963-47); Explorer 19 (1963-53) Thor Agena D launch (1962 beta tau); Atlas Agena launch (1963-36) Sputnik 3 (1958 delta); Echo 1 (1960 iota); Sputnik 24 (1962 beta xi); Midas 7 (1963-30); • Discoverer 34 (1961 alpha epsilon); Thor AbleStar launch (1963-49) Over 26 other launches with four pieces each. The number of objects placed in orbit is now approaching 750, of which about 185 are Russian. Fortunately, outer space is not quite as cluttered up at the present time as these figures might indicate; many satellites were placed into orbits so low that the atmospheric resistance caused the craft to burn up soon after launch. Even so, as the main table shows, over 400 objects are still circling the Earth. Many of them may remain in orbit for hundreds of years. The credit (or guilt) for this rests largely with the United States, as is evident from the accompanying diagram. This shows the numbers of spacecraft, rocket stages and fragments launched into orbit by the USA and the Soviet Union each year since 1957, and also those still in orbit on January 1, 1964. Perhaps, at some time in the future, a meteoroid detection satellite will be launched to determine the chances of a manned lunar spacecraft being hit by a long-forgotten piece of man-made junk. Recent Orbits The following list covers all the artificial Earth satellites known to have been launched between December 11 and December 31, 1963. It follows on from the "Recent orbits" feature in our December 19 issue. Orbitals elements quoted normally refer to the initial orbit. December 13 Cosmos 23 launched from the Soviet Union at about 14.10 GMT. Orbit (satellite) 235-610km (146-380 miles), inclination 48.96°, nodal period 92.91min; orbit (rocket) 230-608km (143-378 miles), 49.12°, 92.90min. Estimated lifetime (satellite) five months, (rocket) four months. Components 50A, satellite (transmitting on 20.005Mc/s); 50B, C, and D, rocket body and two fragments. December 18 1963-51. USAF satellite launched by Atlas Agena from Arguello at about 21.52 GMT. Orbit 14O-285km (87-177 miles), 97.89°, 88.51min. Decayed December 20, lifetime one day. Only component 51 A, Agena stage. December 19 1963-52. Cosmos 24 launched from the Soviet Union at about 09.24 GMT. Orbit (satellite) 210-405km (130-252 miles), 65.03°, 90.51min; orbit (rocket) 225-415km (140-157 miles), 64.96°, 90.65min. Estimated lifetime (satellite) two weeks, (rocket) three weeks. Components 52A, satellite (transmitted on 19.995 Mc/s); 52B, rocket body. December 19 1963-53. Explorer 19 launched by NASA using Scout from Point Arguello at 18.49 GMT. Orbit 598-2,393km (372-1,490 miles), 78.61°, 115.90min. Estimated lifetime 20 years. Components 53A, Explorer 19 (15ilb, 12ft-diameter sphere, trans- mitted on 136.62Mc/s); 53B, C, D, E, F, and G, Altair rocket body and five fragments. December 21 1963-54. Tiros 8 launched by NASA using Thor Delta from Cape Kennedy at 09.30 GMT. Orbit 698-765km (435- 475 miles), 58.48°, 99.33min. Estimated lifetime 75 years. Compo- nents 54A, Tiros 8 (2651b, 19in long, 42in diameter "hatbox," transmitting on 136.23, 136.92, and APT on 136.95Mc/s; 54B, Altair rocket body; 54C and D, fragments. December 21 1963-55. USAF satellite launched by thrust- augmented Thor Agena from Vandenberg at about 21.52 GMT. Orbit (satellite) 200-345km (125-215 miles), 64-90°, 89.98min; orbit (capsule) 340-415km (210-260 miles), 64.51°, 91.71min. Estimated lifetime (satellite) one month, (capsule) three months* Components 55A, Agena; 55B capsule or small satellite. Two major satellites have decayed in the Earth's atmosphere recently, the Cosmos 19 rocket (1963-33B) on December 9 (lifetime 125 days) and Agena 1963-48A on December 15 (17 days). The object 1963-42B mentioned in the previous "Recent orbits" is thought now to be a capsule or small satellite rather than a frag- ment. Similarly 1963-49A, B, and C—all transmitting on 136.0Mc/s —are three satellites, 49A probably being housed within the AbleStar final stage. Two more fragments have been discovered in this orbit (49D and E) and four more in the Centaur 2 orbit (1963- 47D, E, F, and G). Comsat Corporation Invites Designs Design proposals for a basic, global system of communication satellites were invited from 15 companies by the US Communications Satellite Corporation on December 22. The Corporation stated that the system could employ either 12-18 satellites orbiting at 5,000-12,000 n.m., or six synchronous satellites at 19,300 n.m. The intermediate-height system should achieve its initial launch not later than 1966, with initial global coverage not later than 1967; and the synchronous- height system not later than 1967 and 1968 respectively. Proposals were requested by February 10, to be followed by one or more contracts for six-month engineering design projects. The Corpora- tion added that, before the basic system got under way, there was a possibility that a first-generation synchronous satellite could provide commercial communications in 1965. This satellite could give experimental and operational facilities for television; for facsimile, data or telegraphic message traffic, or for up to 240 two-way telephone channels. Soviet Pacific Shot? According to unofficial Washington reports, the Soviet Union fired a rocket into one of the announced Soviet test areas south of Hawaii on December 24. NORAD at Colorado Springs and the Defense Department in Washington declined to comment on the report. UN Approval The United Nations General Assembly on Decem- ber 13 approved a set of legal principles governing the exploration and use of outer space, and approved the report of the UN outer- space committee which recommended further international co- operation. In the political committee discussions preceding this, as reported on page 70, Ambassador Adlai Stevenson renewed the US offer of co-operation with the USSR in manned exploration of the Moon.
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