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Aviation History
1971
1971 - 0038.PDF
mi Engineering Mode/ of £sro 4. A so/or array will be fitted a;ound the body of the flight model night" site before being halted in a shallow crater on December 13 for four days of static experiments. On December 17 it continued south and, when .shut down again on December 22, it was just under a mile or 1.4km from the Luna 17 landing stage. Including manoeuvres, the vehicle has covered a total of 1,880yd, 1.7km. The laser measurements taken by the Soviet astro- physical observatory in the Crimea during the first shut down are reported to have been highly satisfactory. However, simultaneous French attempts from the I'yrenean observatory at Pic du Midi were largely unsuccessful owing to the low power of the French projector (7> Joules) and to poor weather. The French equipment is an old experimental laser, due for replacement within the next year. However, alter Lunokhod has completed its experi mental programme it will be. positioned to operate as a fixed reflector for long-term work. In a recent Pravda article, one of the Lunokhod designers observed that a subsequent lunar vehicle could be operated on the back of the Moon by means of signals relayed through a satellite in lunar orbit. Anticipating planetary exploration he added that, although Lunokhod tested certain basic principles, a vehicle which could travel on Mais would have to be radically different. The main problem would be. that of control, as round-trip signals between Earth and Mars take 28min, compared with the 2'2sec in the case of the Moon. The Mars rover would therefore have to operate independently using an onboard computer, requiring only occasional supervision from Earth. Such an operation would be an achievement indeed because the vehicle would then become truly automatic. FLIGHT International, 7 January 1971 The contract was originally awarded in mid-1969 as a substitute tor the cancelled Esro TD2 and is intended to study a number of near-Earth space phenomena. Five experiments will study neutral particle composition in the upper atmosphere, and auroral particle energy dis tribution, as well as monitoring medium-energy particles and gathering data on protons and positive ions. The proto type will serve as a test model and back-up spacecraft. The operational satellite is to be launched in Septembeer 1972. The Mesh consortium is currently building the Esro TD1, Europe's largest satellite to date. This was preceded by Esro's first satellite, Iris (Esro 2), which was launched in May 1968. This is still in orbit, although designed for a six-month life. NEW OSO CONTRACT Nasa has awarded Hughes Aircraft Co a $22 million (£9 million) contract to provide, a new, more advanced series of Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO) spacecraft. The new OSOs will serve as platforms for conducting increasingly complex and improved solar experiments. Under the contract, three flight spacecraft, to be desig nated OSO-I, -J and -K.vvill be delivered for missions in 1973, 1974 and 1975 respectively. Hughes will also supply the necessary ground support equipment for qualification and acceptance testing and launch operations, one set of spacecraft spares, and perform pre- and post-launch services. To dale, six OSO spacecraft have been successfully launched into orbit to investigate the. Sun and the, effect of its cyclic variations and storms on life, weather, com munications and other Earth processes. The first was launched on March 7, 1962, and the last on August 9. 1969. SKYLAB SHROUD TESTING A second nose-cone for the Skylab cluster of spacecraft began a series of tests on December 21 in the huge vacuum chamber of Nasa's Lewis Research Centre. The test is to ensure that the shroud will separate properly from a Saturn V. Weighing 24,0001b. 11,000kg, and measuring 56ft, 17m, high by 22ft, 6.7m, wide, the shroud is composed of quadrants that are separated by explosives lining the seams. Each panel must be ejected so as not to touch the rest of the vehicle in flight, and during the test they will be thrown apart at about 12 m.p.h., 20km/hr. This test will be carried out twice before the end of January, after which the shrond will be shipped to Houston Manned Spacecraft Centre for further work. The vacuum chamber at Lewis Research Centre's Plum Brook facility is 120ft, 36.5m high and 100ft, 30.5m wide and can produce a hard vacuum equivalent to 300 miles 480km altitude. Skylab itself will consist of the Saturn workshop, a solar observatory known as the Apollo telescope mount, a multiple docking adapter and an airlock module. It will carry more than 50 scientific, medical and technical experiments and will be launched in 1972 by a two-stage Saturn V into a 270-mile, 435m Earth orbit. Trios of astronauts will be delivered to it by Saturn IB on three occasions for periods of up to 56 days. Fourteenth Molniya Launched The Soviet Unio launched the fourteenth in its series of Molniya-1 telecom munications satellites on Christmas Day. With a 12hr orbi of 22,875 x 300 miles, 39,600km x 480km the satellite wil operate with its predecessors to provide communicatio with latitudes too far north for access by synchronou satellite. ESRO 4 TAKES SHAPE Assembly of the Esro 4 prototype satellite began this week at Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, Stevenage. The satellite is being co-operatively built by the Mesh consortium, com prising Matra, Erno, Saab, HSD and, more recently, Fiat. For this project they have been joined by AEG, Fokker, lnta (Spain), Adcol (USA) and other European companies. Lunar Science Conference Nasa's second annual Luna Science Conference will be held in Houston from Januar 11-14. About 145 leading scientists from the United State and foreign countries will report their findings fro analysis of returned lunar samples and from the i obtained with the scientific experiment packages left o the lunar surface.
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