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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 0036.PDF
38 FLIGHT International, 5 January Spaceflight data by a long-life unmanned satellite and, jduring the past two years, has worked on a company programme to establish the overall satellite system concept and to develop an advanced, high-resolution television camera. The company now claims that this work has progressed to the point where RCA can develop and build a satellite of the type called for by the Department of the Interior. Such a satellite, according to RCA, could be in operation in 1969. It would be equipped with new, ultra-high-resolution television cameras under development at the company's space centre near Princeton, New Jersey, where one camera already has demonstrated a resolution of 3,500 television lines. The satellite would be launched into a 300-mile-high, near polar, Sun-synchronous orbit. With a selected launching time, this orbit would permit repeated observation of any portion of the world under constant illumination. The spacecraft would be designed to meet the mission re- quirements of the US Geological Survey or other users. As well as television cameras, it would carry video tape recorders to store the pictures for later transmission when it is in view of the ground station. Other components of the satellite would include a three-axis stabilisation system controlled by ground command, an electronic programmer to time picture-taking intervals and issue spacecraft commands, and an array of solar cells. Other devices could also be carried—in particular, a telemetry subsystem for collection and relay of data from surface-based platforms. The satellite would weigh 8OO-9OOlb. Several of the new television cameras would be carried, to provide different types of ground coverage in different regions of the visible and near-infra-red parts of the spectrum. The proposed camera system would present an extensive area of the Earth's surface to be examined for specific natural resources information. RCA states that the estimated time for definition of the mission and development of the first satellite is two years. At the end of that period it would be ready for launch and operation. Once in orbit the satellite would provide recurring coverage of selected ground areas in approximately 17-day cycles. This would permit the investigation of seasonal changes as well as more favourable picture-taking at a later date if clouds obscured the ground. The RCA natural-resources satellite programme is based on the company's Tiros weather-satellite experience. Twelve Tiros satellites have been designed and built by RCA since 1960. Ten were built for NASA and the last two, ESSA-1 and ESSA-2, for Environmental Science Services Administration of the Department of Commerce. All these satellites carry tele- vision cameras to photograph weather events on Earth, and all have performed beyond their specified mission-life. Early in the Tiros programme, scientists began to observe in Tiros photographs terrestrial events, the interpretation of which indicated practical benefits in areas other than weather forecasting. Phenomena such as ice breaking-up in the Gulf of St Lawrence were observed in 1961. This led to a joint United States and Canadian ice-reconnaissance project the follow^ year, when Tiros pictures were used to determine when shippjn| lanes on the St Lawrence would be opened. The Tiros satellites were designed to provide daily weathe information, however, with their television cameras set t obtain wide-area coverage of cloud patterns. As a result, the; have not been programmed for Earth-resources observation although the currently operating satellites occasionally pick u| a dust storm, forest fire, or water-pollution scene. RCA has produced some 450 television cameras for spaa application, and the number of individual pictures returned ti Earth from spaceborne RCA television cameras to date i nearly one million. These include the first close-up photograph of the Moon from the Ranger spacecraft and weather photo graphs from two Nimbus and 12 Tiros satellites. NORTHROP HL-10 FLIES The Northrop HL-10 lifting-body glider made a successfu first free flight on December 22, with Bruce Peterson, a NAS/ test pilot, at the controls. The HL-10 was dropped from ; Boeing B-52 flying at 45,000ft over the Mojave desert, and thi flight lasted for four minutes. Two 90° left turns and a practb flare-out were made, after which a landing was made. The first flight was made to verify the design and to asses stability and control and accomplish a system check. The ail craft is similar in appearance to the lifting-body M2F2, but a 6,0001b gross is slightly heavier. It has two hydrogen peroxid engines of 1,0001b thrust total, for use in an emergency sucl as a misjudged flare. Both HL-10 and M2F2 have lifting-body configuration, am are flown by NASA to investigate this concept for possibt application to future manned spaceflight capable of manoeuvi ing in flight, after re-entry, to a controlled landing in a givei area. The M2F2 has made 14 free flights and is now bein; made ready for the installation of rocket engines, which ma; be used to extend the flight envelope to 80,000ft and abou Mach 2. LIFTING BODY LOST An experimental, unmanned lifting-body spacecraft known a the SV-5D was launched on a re-entry flight test by a USA1 Atlas F vehicle on December 21 from Vandenberg Air Foro Base, California. Scheduled to re-enter the Earth's atmospher and glide at a shallow angle to a target area in the Pacific nea Eniwetok, midway between the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands the craft was believed on the basis of telemetry data to havi re-entered in the planned area but was not recovered a planned. Reported to be about 6ft in length and to weigh abou 9001b, the craft was the first of four SV-5 unmanned lifting body models built by the Martin Co in connection with tin SV-5P programme. The SV-5P is a manned lifting-body vehicl designed for the USAF Systems Command and scheduled ti make its first flight in 1967 from Edwards, California. The SV-5P should provide flight-test confirmation of wind tunnel data on lifting-body vehicles, and design and perfor mance criteria for future manned spacecraft. A main objectiv Panorama of the Moon's surface as seen by the Soviet spacecraft, Luna 13
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