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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0627.PDF
370 FLIGHT International, 5 March 19b This spaceflight simulator, with image of the lunar surface on the left, is being built by Boeing and will form part of the company's new facility at Kent, Seattle (see "New Space Centre") New Space Centre A new group of space technology laboratories is to be established by Boeing on a 320-acre site in the Seattle area. One laboratory will simulate navigation and manoeuvring aspects of spaceflight, another will simulate the space environment, a third will carry out research and development in microelectrics and a fourth will test new materials and processes. An initial investment of over $ 15m is planned. Scanner Spacecraft Planned Three suborbital spacecraft are to be built for NASA by Honeywell Aeronautical Division as part of a horizon definition experiment called Project Scanner. The craft will be launched from Wallops Island by a three-stage solid-propellant rocket consisting of a Castor with two strap-on Recruit motors, a Skat and an X-248. Hammaguir Firings Following a successful firing of the fourth Sud-Aviation Dragon at Hammaguir on February 10, in which a. height of 470km was reached, the rocket has been declared available for launching scientific experiments. Eight Centaure rockets, also, were launched from Hammaguir during February 9-15. Sun-seeker Bulova Watch Co is developing a Sun position indicator as part of a satellite stabilization system for Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. The unit will weigh about 21b and use a power of 0.2W. Missiles and Spaceflight SYNCOM COMMAND STATION FOR AUSTRALIA A ground station to be used to transmit command signals to the forthcoming Syncom C communication satellite will be located at the Weapons Research Establishment, Salisbury, South Australia. The station will not be used for communications via the satellite, which is expected to be launched by NASA before the middle of this year. The Salisbury installation will have two functions. During the launch phase, it will monitor the attitude of the satellite, and will command the firing of the apogee motor at the correct time to place the craft into circular, equatorial orbit. During the orbital phase, the station will receive telemetry from the spacecraft giving information on the condition of its batteries, equipment and systems. Based on this information, the station will command the control system of the satellite to change the orbit, if necessary, in order to maintain synchronous flight. Australia was chosen for the telemetry and command instal- lation, according to NASA, because the new trans-Pacific cable between Sydney and Vancouver makes possible a hard-wire, all- weather type teletype circuit of approximately 10,000 miles from Salisbury to Syncom control at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. Cosmos 25 in Orbit The successful launch of the 25th in the Cosmos series of "scientific" Earth satellites was announced on February 27. The instruments aboard the craft were stated to have been designed to continue the programme of space exploration announced by Tass on March 16, 1962. Initial orbital parameters were quoted as: period, 92.27min; apogee, 526km; perigee, 272km; inclination, 49°. In addition to scientific apparatus, the satellite was stated to be carrying a radio transmitter working on 90.022 Mc/s; a radio system for the exact measurement of the elements of the orbit, and a radio telemetric system for transmitting to the Earth information about the operation of the instruments and scientific apparatus. The apparatus was stated to be functioning normally and the co-ordinating/computing centre was said to be processing the incoming information. Secor Launch Launch of the US Army's first Secor (sequential collation of range) satellite during January was announced by Dr Albert Hall, Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engin- eering, for space, in Washington last month. Dr Hall did not specify the launch date but said that the satellite was performing exceptionally well. Ships in Pool NASA and the Department of Defense have agreed that instrumentation ships required to support US space programmes will be placed in a pool and operated by DoD on behalf of both agencies. Twenty such ships should be operational by the end of 1967. Martin on Sprint The Martin Company announced recently the receipt of a $14.8m letter contract from Bell Telephone Laboratories for development of the Sprint missile. Earlier phases of Sprint work allocated to Martin were valued at $7.8m and included a competitive study for the missile followed by a pro- gramme definition phase. Development of the Sprint will be part of the US Army's Nike-X programme, announced recently by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. A major feature of the Sprint design is the announced emphasis being placed on "extreme acceleration characteristics, enabling the Sprint to reach intercept altitude in less time than the current Zeus missile which, with its 450,0001b thrust first-stage booster, is already the fastest air defence missile in the Free World." Bell Telephone Laboratories are responsible for system design and development on Nike-X, for which Western Electric Co is prime contractor. Hydrazine Catalyst Discovered A joint NASA/JPL/Shell Oil Co project has produced a catalyst which can be used with monopro- pellant hydrazine rocket engines for spacecraft guidance and control. The catalyst, on coming into contact with the hydrazine, causes it to decompose and produce high-temperature gases which generate thrust as they expand through the engine nozzle. Previously, heat had to be applied for the hydrazine to decompose. NASA states that the hydrazine compounds produced by the catalytic reaction are 50 per cent more energetic than the monopropellant hydrogen-peroxide used at present for attitude control and guidance of spacecraft. The French National Space Programme is the subject of a lecture by Gen Robert Aubiniere, director-general of the French National Centre for Space Studies, to be given before the British Inter- planetary Society in London on April 21. The meeting has been sponsored jointly by the BIS and the French Astronautical Societ>, and will be held at 7 p.m. at the Royal Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton Place, London Wl. Fourth European Symposium on Space Technology will be held in Rome during June 18-20. Jointly sponsored by the astronautical societies of Britain, Italy, France and Germany, the symposium will have as its main theme the development of large recoverable boosters and the use of aerospace vehicles for this purpose.
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