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Aviation History
1966
1966 - 1382.PDF
fUGHT International, 12 May 1966 785 Pxamples at Hanover of the active German national space rogranime range from ERNO's Jupiter probe design, carried ut for the Federal Ministry of Science and Research, to Dornier's recoverable sounding-rocket using extending para- glider wings. High-energy upper stages and engines, and scien- tific satellites, are also being developed. A small scientific satel- lite designated 625-A1 is being built and is to be launched by Scout from the USA in 1968; a second satellite, 625-A2, has been the subject of a design study. Medium-energy and high-energy developments of the attitude-control rockets which Bolkow is building for the third stage of Europa 1 were among the exhibits at Hanover, and Junkers showed its space trans- porter design in model form. ERNO showed an ingenious attitude-control system which it intends to develop in co-operation with TRW Systems for communication satellites. This has two sub-systems connected in parallel, and uses hydrazine as propellant and nitrogen gas for pressurisation. Dornier's Project 621 recoverable sounding-rocket has suc- cessfully completed a series of drop-tests from a helicopter, with the paraglider wings extending in flight and the rocket being successfully guided to soft landing by ground control. This phase of testing was completed in Sardinia last Novem- ber; a further contract from the Federal Government to cover actual rocket firings and recoveries is expected soon. French National Programme The visible part of the iceberg at Hanover as far as France's national space programme was concerned was the four-chamber C2 liquid-hydrogen engine displayed by SEPR. Not visible but evident in discussion was the whole family of "Super Diamant" rockets already being discussed as possible follow-ons to the successfully inaugurated Diamant launch vehicle. SEPR's liquid-hydrogen engines are upper-stage probables both for the Super-Diamants and for the proposed ELDO-B vehicles. Not generally publicised is Rocketdyne's contribution of technology to the third stage of the existing Diamant vehicle, under an agreement with Sud. Apollo North American Aviation's display mock-up of the three-man Apollo command module attracted long queues throughout the show. Films and technical briefings gave more detailed information for those with a detailed interest in the programme, both on the Apollo spacecraft and on the S-II second stage of the Saturn V vehicle. NAA is prime contractor on both spacecraft and stage, with Rocketdyne J-2 liquid- hydrogen engines supplying the power for the S-II stage and also for the S-IVB third stage. Results of the recent suborbital re-entry test using the first Saturn IB vehicle, it was confirmed, had been most successful, with the spacecraft heatshield withstanding the heat of re-entry with a bigger margin than expected. Core samples are now being examined to obtain more data. The overall Apollo /Saturn programme, it is clear, has been trimmed to the minimum possible number of flights, with the maximum amount of information needed from each mission. If all goes well, it is suggested, a manned lunar landing could take place as early as 1968. Design of all main elements of the spacecraft has been finalised—including the lunar excur- sion module, although it is admitted that further information (from Surveyor and lunar-orbiter craft) is needed on the nature of the lunar surface. Pacing item on the Saturn V vehicle is the S-II stage. A replica of the European Space Research Organisation's HEOS-A satellite was displayed by junkers, the prime contractor When the Apollo astronauts do get to the Moon, they will use a lunar television camera developed by Westinghouse. This was shown at Hanover. It uses a secondary-electron-conduction image sensor which, it is claimed, "has the wide dynamic range needed to obtain good pictures at very low levels of earthshine during lunar night" Westinghouse also showed a Gemini rendezvous evaluation pod and radar interrogator unit. Potent Solid United Technology Center showed its high- performance FW-4S solid-propellant rocket motor designed as an improved fourth stage for the Scout launch vehicle. With an inert weight of 55.51b and propellant weight of 6051b the standard motor has a mass fraction of no less than 0.92, giving a 25 per cent increase in payload when used on Scout to place a satellite in polar orbit. Developed and qualified for Scout in less than a year, the FW-4S has also been flown as an upper stage on Thor vehicles and is now being qualified as third stage of the Delta vehicle. For Delta applications the motor would be designated FW-4D. In addition to its use as upper stage in Earth-orbital, space- probe or re-entry missions the motor could also be adapted for use as a retro-rocket for spacecraft, as a sounding rocket, and in other applications. A number of variations—of propel- lant weight, motor length, ignition delay, nozzle length, etc— on the basic motor are possible. Model of future delta-wing development of the X-/5 research aircraft, shown by North American Aviation
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