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Aviation History
1965
1965 - 0111.PDF
FLIGHT International, 14 January 1965 71 Spaceflight Prior to delivery to Cape Kennedy, experimental Atlas-Centaur S (AC-S) (background) scheduled for the next Centaur research and development test fight, undergoes composite test at astronautics division of General Dynamics, San Diego. This test marked the first time that the entire Atlas-Centaur combination had been mated in the factory and subjected to simu- lated countdown and flight. Opera- tional vehicles will be tested with Surveyor spacecraft in a combined systems test stand now nearing completion in San Diego MORE SOVIET PACIFIC TESTS The Soviet news agency Tass announced on January 9: "With the object of the further exploration of outer space and the accumula- tion of experimental data, the Soviet Union between January 11 and March 1, 1965, will launch new variations of carrier rockets for space objectives into an area of the Pacific inside a circle with a radius of 65 nautical miles from a centre with the co-ordinates of 1° 35'N latitude and 164° 0.1'W longitude. Tass is authorized to state that, to ensure security, the Soviet Government has asked the governments of other countries who use sea and air routes in the Pacific to inform the appropriate bodies that ships and aircraft should not enter the area and/or the airspace over it from noon to midnight local time during the period of the tests." PENTAGON ACQUIRES SYNCOM The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration is handing over operation of its Syncom 2 and Syncom 3 communication satellites to the Department of Defense. This transfer began on January 1 and is to be completed by March 31. According to the text of a joint announcement, NASA "has completed its experi- mental research and development programme with the two synchronous satellites" and the DoD will operate them for the remainder of their useful lives. Telemetry and command stations and range and range-rate equipment operated by NASA for the Syncom programme will be transferred to the DoD along with the satellites. The Defense Department, which for the past two years has provided the com- munications ground stations used to relay transmissions via the two Syncom spacecraft, will provide NASA with "certain telemetry and ranging data of continuing scientific and engineering interest." SIMPLE SOUNDER A relatively cheap scientific sounding rocket developed from the Skua meteorological rocket is being developed by Bristol Aerojet of Banwell, Somerset, under contract to the Ministry of Aviation for use in Britain's civilian programme of space research. The new rocket will be 7|in in diameter (compared with 5in for the Skua), approximately 9ft long, and will weigh 2401b. Fired from the same type of tube launcher as used by the Skua, the rocket should carry a 301b payload to a height of 135km, reaching a speed of Mach 5.6 from a 29sec burn by the solid-propellant motor. Parachute recovery is planned. Bristol Aerojet is the design authority for the rocket system, and the Rocket Propulsion Establishment, Westcott, is the design authority for the motor. Research and development authorities for the motor and the system respectively are the Ministry of Aviation and the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston. The vehicle is expected to cost about £1,000, plus payload, and to begin flight tests in about two years' time. EUROSPACE TO VISIT USA Philadelphia has been chosen as the location for the second joint meeting between representatives of the European industrial association Eurospace and US space industry. First such meeting was held in Rome last June; the US meeting will take place next April. Overall objective is "to review together the problems which the evolution of space technology poses for the space industry, both in Europe and the United States." One of the conclusions of the Rome meeting was that the US and European space industries should try to find a way to develop joint technical agreements. A specific reason for the Philadelphia meeting is to further explore this possibility, as well as to provide an exchange of information on current problems. According to Eurospace, "This Eurospace initiative may eventually lead to a joint space programme or at least complementary space programmes in the western world." The Philadelphia meeting will last one week and will be followed by visits to major US space companies. NASA has been informed of the meeting and, Eurospace states, "has indicated strong interest in this initiative and is encouraging it." Formed in 1961, Eurospace now has 120 member-companies, and a number of professional associations which are collective members, in 11 European countries. Fifteen European banks and 11 US aerospace companies are corresponding members. GEC for UK-3 GEC (Electronics) Ltd has been appointed main contractor for electronic equipment aboard the UK-3 satellite, now being built by British Aircraft Corporation at Stevenage. The company's Applied Electronics Laboratories at Portsmouth have received Ministry of Aviation contracts for the provision of all UK-3 satellite electronic equipment except that incorporated in the scientific experiments. Working from design information supplied by the Royal Aircraft Establishment, the Laboratories will be responsible for the design, construction and testing of the elec- tronics, and will work closely with BAC during the integration and proving of the complete satellite.
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