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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2181.PDF
198 FLIGHT international, 30 July 1964 Spaceflight and missiles The third and final part of the programme calls for launching two Syncom Vs in such a way as to "verify our ability to extrapolate the data and understanding" of gravity gradients as gained from Syncom III to make them work to direct two Earth-oriented, gravity-gradient stabilized spacecraft in stationary orbits at 22,300 miles. These vehicles will use Atlas-Agena boosters as well as the new apogee-kick stage. In addition, Syncom V will provide a platform on which advanced components, subsystems and other new technology could be flight-tested. A US General Electric Co spokesman at the AIAA meeting drew attention to the prospect of direct television broadcasting from satellites to home receivers within a matter of a few years. Mr R. P. Haviland, an engineer with GE's Satellite & Space Systems Division, proposed that a Nimbus weather satellite be adapted to handle TV broadcasts beamed to it as a first public demonstration of the technique. Mr Haviland emphasized that he was drawing on Nimbus technology in an effort to save money and, at the same time, prove the feasibility of such a system. Once the concept had been demonstrated, it would be time enough to design a special, commercially acceptable satellite for the purpose. Because of the limited power on board the Nimbus, he indicated it would perhaps be best to plan only two half-hour programmes per day, so that during the rest of the time the batteries could be recharged by means of solar cells. "The solar power system now being fabricated for the Nimbus satellite has an initial output of 38OW," he explained, "and of this about 80W are needed contin- uously for vehicle functions, leaving 300W for communications use. This energy could be used to charge the batteries over a long period of time, and the batteries then could supply a peak power load for a much shorter period of time. In this way, the relatively high power levels needed for TV transmission can be secured." Mr Haviland projected a power curve indicating that the 300W available from the solar cells could thus be translated into two 30min periods in which the TV transmitter would have a normal input of 5kW. The GE engineer proposed an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 3,550 n.m. and an inclination of 50°. Such an orbit would require less booster energy, and at the same time would increase atmospheric drag so as to bring about the eventual destruction of the satellite and booster once they had served their purpose. Mr Haviland indicated that the basic Nimbus vehicle, weighing 7001b, could be converted into a TV broadcasting satellite by eliminating 1401b of meteorological sensing equipment, substituting the same weight of transmitters and relay elements plus 3001b of batteries. This would bring the total weight up to about 1,0001b. An Atlas-Agena would be used to achieve the desired orbit. The converted Nimbus would carry a folded transmitter aerial. Transmissions probably would be on 175Mc/s, since that frequency is commonly used around the world. It is expected that the pattern of coverage would fall between 65°N and 40°S latitude, thereby making the satellite's broadcasts available at different times to much of the inhabited world. Mr Haviland indicated that, in general, no changes would be necessary in domestic TV sets or aerials to receive broadcasts from the satellite. Life of the satellite was estimated at about one year. A sketch appears on page 197. INDUSTRY International Great Britain Castrol's New Research Laboratories Castrol Ltd have brought most of their research under one attractive new roof at Bracknell in Berkshire, and next year engine testing will also be moved there from Hayes. As we briefly reported last week, the official opening ceremony, by Lord Kindersley, chairman of Rolls-Royce, took place on July 17, when he unveiled a bust of Sir Henry Royce which is to stand with another, of Lord Wakefield, at the entrance. Their two companies have been closely associated for very many years. In his speech of welcome the chairman of Castrol Ltd, Mr Leslie Farrow, referred to the achievement of his company's chemists in evolving Castrol 98, the synthetic avia- tion gas turbine lubricant "previously the subject of a world monopoly by an American-owned company." More than half of the Rolls-Royce-engined civil aircraft in Europe and those in the RAF and some NATO air forces, now use this advanced product, he said. At present the work in the new labora- tories is much concerned with synthetic lubricants for very-high-performance air- craft engines and with such other products as hydrulic fluid for the Concord and radiation-resistant lubricants. There are four main departments: organic research, development, analytical services and process development. In the last-named the pro- cesses for making the new products of the laboratory on a commercial scale are worked out. HSD's Electron-beam Welder Licence An exclusive licence to manufacture and sell the Hamilton Standard electron-beam welding machine has been obtained by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics. The licensed territory comprises the Commonwealth (with the exception of Canada), Norway, Sweden, and the Union of South Africa. With the absence of distortion and con- tamination, combined with precise control, this equipment opens up numerous appli- cations for welding, ranging from delicate micro-electronics to steel sections many inches thick, claims HSD. The ability to weld sophisticated mate- rials and finished machined components makes the machine an economic proposi- tion for production and for salvaging ex- pensive components scrapped during manu- facture or in service. Hamilton Standard owns the world-wide patents of the electron beam process, orig- inally developed by the Carl Zeiss Foun- dation, of West Germany. Over 120 of these machines are in use in the United States. In the head of the electron optical column a high voltage, up to 150kV, is used to generate a stream of electrons which is focused by an electro-magnetic lens system to produce a beam less than 0.01 Sin diameter which at 6kW power level represents a power density of 36,OOOkW/ sq in. It is this high-power density which is responsible for achieving the very low The new Castrol research laboratories at Brockne// (see first news-item)
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