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Aviation History
1975
1975 - 0087.PDF
FLIGHT International, 9 January 1975 i SPRCEFUGHT • SALYUT 4 TAKES OVER J The purpose of Salyut 4, launched on December 26 and I originally established in a 270km X 219km, 51-6° orbit, i with a period of 89-lmin, is to "further test the design of the on-board systems and equipment of orbital stations * and conduct scientific-technical studies and experiments," t according to a Novosti statement on December 30. There was no explicit mention of the Soyuz flights which can * be expected to ferry crews to the new space station. ^ On December 28 Salyut 4 made the first of two orbit changes, moving up into a 9I-3min path. In the second * manoeuvre, two days later, the orbit was circularised j. at a height of 350km. This is the greatest height attained by any Salyut craft, and the ground-tracks repeat them- 9 selves every two days, so that manned launches to ren- > dezvous with the new station could take place at these intervals. It is now clear that the very high orbit of *• Soyuz 12, launched in September 1973, may have been a test flight in anticipation of forthcoming high-orbit Salyut * missions. During its two-day flight Soyuz 12 manoeuvred . after five orbits into a new 91min, 362km X 345km path. The Kettering Group reports that the telemetry signals < from Salyut 4 are similar to those of Cosmos 557, but different to those of the other Salyut craft; it may be that Salyut 2 and 3 were placed in low orbits for the purpose ,4 of carrying out military surveillance activities, while the higher orbit of Salyut 4 is more suitable for Earth- 4 resources measurements. Salyut 3, launched on June 25 last year, remained ( operational for six months, twice as long as originally k planned. On December 25 the programme of additional | work begun during September was completed, and r according to Novosti the station was closed down; L Kettering, however, reports that transmissions were still I being recorded on December 30. More than 400 scientific I* and technical experiments were conducted, 70 television L and 2,500 telemetry sessions were held, and the attitude- I control motors operated on 50,000 occasions. A visit and Ife docking by the crew of Soyuz 14 early in July was followed I up by a second manned mission, Soyuz 15, in late July. C* On the second occasion the crew were unable to dock, I* owing to an incorrectly executed approach. I. SECOND ERTS LAUNCH SOON I The launch of the second Nasa Earth Resources Technology • 4 Satellite Erts-B later this month will enable the next steps I in the techniques of global investigation to begin. Like I Erts-1, which was launched in July 1972, Erts-B will circle II the globe 14 times a day, scanning a strip of the surface I 115 miles wide from its 567-mile circular, Sun-synchronous I* orbit which takes the satellite very nearly over the poles. • The orbit is synchronised with the Earth's rotation so that • the satellite passes over the same local areas each day Et when the Sun is in the same position in the sky, so allow- • ing uniformly illuminated pictures to be taken. Erts-1 in •I 27 months of Earth surveillance has returned about 100,000 H* images covering all of the United States and three- • quarters of the world's land-mass. As with Erts-1, the m data from Erts-B will be processed at the Goddard Space • Flight Centre. B One of the first tasks to be undertaken with Erts-B is I the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment, a joint in- Engineering model of the docking module which will clamp together the American and Russian spacecraft in next July's ASTP Apolh-Soyuz Test Project) flight. Three wing-shaped tapered guides on each vehicle ensure that the Apollo docking mechanism is correctly aligned with that of the Soyuz. During the manoeuvre the Soyuz will remain passive, all movements being carried out by the American vehicle, which has a much greater fuel capacity vestigation by the US Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Nasa to see whether data gathered by satellite and analysed by computers can be used to improve the accuracy of crop forecasting. Initially the scientists involved will concentrate on the wheat crops being grown in North America. NASA LOOKS FOR HYDROGEN SUPPLIERS Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Centre has issued to industry requests for proposals to supply the liquid hydrogen needs of the USA's East Coast in respect of the Shuttle activity which is building up. The main users of liquid hydrogen are the Marshall Centre and the National Space Tech nology Centre in Missouri, both of which are concerned with the development of the vehicle and its engines, and there are early Shuttle operations at the Kennedy Space Centre to support. Firms are being asked to quote for deliveries from April 1975 to March 1983. Apart from the Shuttle though, this step appears to be part of the build-up process to diversify the outlets for liquid hydrogen and to involve more of American industry in its production and use. JAPAN POSTPONES THREE SATELLITE PROGRAMMES The Japanese Government has postponed from early next year until 1977 the launch of three satellites for meteorology, communications and broadcasting purposes. The launch of a. fourth satellite for communications has been put back from 1977 to 1978. All of these 330kg-350kg craft are to be launched by US rockets. Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication says that this is a consequence of new Nasa arrangements which now require payments for launch to. be made in 24 monthly instalments prior to launch. Previously a down payment was sufficient to secure the launch, with the balance following later. Cosmos 100 was launched on December 26 into a 1,026km X 976km orbit inclined at 83°.
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