Scrapbook 2: Nov 1962 — Space walking, Venus, Minuteman

Atlas Springs Leak in Nebraska Silo

EAGLE, Neb. (UPI)—An Atlas missile in an underground silo at a launching site near here sprang a leak in its fuel tank area, the Strategic Air Comd (SAC) has revealed.

The missile was at Site No. 2 of the 551st Strategic Missile Sq. No personnel were injured, a SAC spokesman said. He said the missile was damaged, but gave no further details.

Britain’s charter for Space

BRITAIN, one of the also-rans in the Space race, suggested rules for the freedom of Outer Space to the United Nations yesterday.

The draft charter says:

1—Outer Space, planets and stars are free to be explored and used by all States in conformity with International Law.

2—No State may claim sovereignty over Outer Space or over any star or planet.

3—In the exploration and use of Outer Space, stars and planets, States are bound by International Law and by the provisions of the United Nations Charter and other international agreements.

4—All States shall have equal rights in their exploration and use of Outer Space in accordance with International Law.

METEORITE HUNT

One-ton fragments

A UNITED STATES Government helicopter is to search this week for fragments of several meteorites of unusual size which have fallen in Virginia this month. Two are believed to have each weighed more than one ton.

Astronomers put advertisements in local papers asking for information about the arrivals of the meteorites. They have had more than 100 replies, which have helped them to pinpoint the spots where the objects landed.

‘Space Walking’ Predicted by ’65

WASHINGTON (AP) — Within two or three years an American astronaut may open a hatch in his orbiting vehicle and step out into space.

He may spend as much as 15 minutes floating around, 87 to 150 miles above the earth, before re-entering his spacecraft.

Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom described the mission in a talk here which made it plain that he hoped, with proper luck in the draw of assignments, to be one of the first men to “walk” around in space.

Grissom told members of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots that each of the two pilots aboard the Gemini spacecraft will wear a new type of pressurized suit. The life-supporting atmosphere within the suit will be augmented by an oxygen back pack.

The two crew members will take turns spending brief periods outside the Gemini craft during the days and weeks that they orbit the earth. They will maintain contact with the vehicle by means of a rope or cable, as a safeguard against drifting too far away.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has ordered 12 Gemini craft for flights starting possibly late next year.

After an initial unmanned flight, there will be an 18-orbit manned mission, and then two manned flights of two weeks or more.

On the fifth Gemini flight, crews will start practicing rendezvous in orbit with an Agena target vehicle 32 feet long and 5 feet in diameter.

The walk-about space experiments will not begin until after the rendezvous practice missions.

The Gemini vehicle will be 7½ feet wide at the base.

Grissom said the Gemini craft will have an ejection seat escape system much like that of a jet airplane, for use in an emergency at launching or on the approach to a landing.

Grissom Hopes to Fly

Either the pilot or the copilot can fire both ejection seats, but normally the copilot would do it only if the pilot was unable to give the ejection order.

Grissom said he hoped to fly Gemini missions, but no decisions had yet been made as to who could go on the flights, or when.

The astronaut said the new pressure suits would protect Gemini crews from radiation and from micrometeorites.

He was asked whether his colleague, Walter Schirra, encountered any damaging radiation during his six-orbit flight last month.

Persons attending the dinner meeting said Lt Col John A. Powers, information officer for the Mercury astronauts, told Grissom not to answer that question.

ROCKET ALARM MEETS SNAGS

“Midas” system seriously delayed

By Air Cdre. E. M. DONALDSON, Daily Telegraph Air Staff

THE American “Midas” (Missile Defence Alarm System) which would give Britain an extra two minutes warning of a rocket attack, has run into difficulties. This means the system, designed to operate in 1970, will be seriously delayed.

The major problem is that the system based on infra-red sensors in satellites orbiting the earth at 2,000 miles has become too complicated. Mr. McNamara, the American Secretary of Defence, has ordered the whole “Midas” programme to be reorientated to simplify and improve reliability.

“Midas” can detect a rocket launched 6,000 miles away, but it now seems it has difficulty in distinguishing a rocket-launch from the reflection of the sun on high altitude clouds in certain conditions.

3 THEORIES MAY ALL BE RIGHT

By ANTHONY SMITH, Daily Telegraph Science Correspondent

NO one knows yet which idea about the universe is correct. Astronomical observations are not yet sufficiently accurate, said Prof. D. E. LITTLEWOOD, Profesor of Pure Mathematics, Bangor.

But the near future could make discrimination possible, he added. At the moment there are three basic ideas, any one of which could be proved right.

Apart from the two main ideas, known as the steady state and the big bang, there is also the elastic scheme. In the last, the universe expands from a point to a maximum size. As soon as it reaches this size, it contracts again.

STEADY STATE

The steady state idea suggests that, apart from local irregularities, the universe presents the same general aspect in all places and at all times.

The expanding universe, with the idea of everything beginning with a big bang, is the third scheme.

All theories might, it seems, be one and the same. It all depends, apparently, on what happens to time on the borders of the universe, which is said to stand still.

Minuteman Always Ready

ICBM Gets Liaison Team

ANAHEIM, Calif. (UPI)—A unique team of experts is making sure the Air Force’s new Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles will always be ready for instant use, it was disclosed here.

Each member of the REACT team is a senior technical engineer and familiar with the complete Minuteman weapon system. As such, they are capable of quick and accurate analysis of any major problem that arises.

REACT, which means rapid evaluation and corrective team, is composed of representatives from North American, Aviation’s autonetics team, Space Technology Laboratories, Boeing Co. and RCA.

The Air Force explained the reason for formation of the REACT team was to expedite solving unusual system failures with the missiles.

In the past, when unusual failures occurred design engineers were called into the field to analyze problems and to recommend corrective action. A certain amount of delay resulted because these engineers were only familiar with their own equipment rather than the overall weapon system.

Using the unique REACT concept, such a team is capable of almost immediate attention to the overall Minuteman system problems.

Later this year the Minuteman missile will join this country’s growing deterrent power when the first wing of the solid-fuel, inertially guided ICBMs are installed in underground silos at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Great Falls, Mont.

Soviet Observatories

Moscow—Six new astronomical observatories are under construction in various parts of the Soviet Union, according to Prof. Alexander A. Mikhailov, chairman of the USSR Academy of Sciences Council for Astronomy. Soviet Russia has 36 astronomical observatories in operation now.

New observatories are being built in Azerbaidzhan, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Tartu. Mikhailov said the Tartu facility will become the central astronomical observatory establishment of the Baltic Republics.

Vostok expert killed

From Our Own Correspondent MOSCOW, Saturday.

Col. Peter Dolgov, one of Russia’s leading parachutists, has been killed “while carrying out his duties,” according to Red Star, the Soviet Army newspaper. He was one of the experts who worked out the methods of landing from the Vostok spaceships, the newspaper said.

Col. Dolgov was an expert in the design and use of ejection seats. He held eight world and national records in parachute jumping contests.

£114M CONTRACT FOR MOON ROCKET

From Our Own Correspondent WASHINGTON, Tuesday.

The American Space Agency awarded the largest contract in its history to-day to the North American Aviation Company. This was for the production of the second stages of the advanced Saturn moon rocket. The contract is worth £114 million. America hopes to send a three-man Apollo capsule round the moon and back in 1966.

The agency also announced that its Mariner II spacecraft is about half way to its “meeting” with Venus. The spacecraft is due to pass Venus at a distance of 20,900 miles on Dec. 14.

Moscow radio reported yesterday that Soviet astronomers have bounced radio waves off the planet Jupiter, 391 million miles from Earth.

It said that experiments indicated that a strong radiation belt probably surrounded Jupiter. The belt appeared to be similar to the one which surrounded the Earth.—AP.

RUSSIA’S FIVE SPACE PROBE ‘FAILURES’

PLANET SHOTS

WASHINGTON, Thursday.

RUSSIA’S failure at the week-end to match America’s achievement in sending a space probe towards Venus may mean that she will be unable to catch up until 1964. The American Mariner II satellite will pass within 9,000 miles of Venus on Dec. 14.

The unannounced attempt by Russia on Saturday ended with her satellite orbiting the earth. It was still attached to the booster rocket which put it there.

This was disclosed late last night by Mr. James Webb, Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency. He said Russia had had only one partial success out of six attempts since 1960 to “probe” Venus or Mars.

VENUS POSITION

Venus will be in a suitable position to the earth only until the middle of this month, unless extremely powerful rockets are used to launch a satellite. The next favourable opportunity will come early in 1964.

Both countries use the “parking orbit” technique, putting the satellite into orbit round the earth before giving it the final “kick” to send it on a course that will bring it close to the planet.

Mr. Webb said the following Russian attempts had been made:

OCT. 10, 1960.—An attempt to probe Mars failed before parking orbit was achieved.

OCT. 14, 1960.—A similar failure.

FEB. 4, 1961.—In an attempted Venus probe the satellite was “parked” but could not be ejected into the planned Venus trajectory. Russia announced it as an earth satellite.

FEB. 12, 1961.—A 1,400lb satellite was launched towards Venus. Its radio failed after 4,500,000 miles.

AUG. 25, 1962.—A satellite again failed to eject from the main space craft in its parking orbit.

SEPT. 1. 1962.—The same thing happened. The whole assembly is still orbiting the earth.

KENNEDY SECRECY

Mr. Webb said in a letter to the chairmen of the Senate and House space committees that his information came from various government agencies. Since early last year the Kennedy Administration has clamped secrecy on methods used to identify Russian space launchings.

The partial disclosure of the results followed Congressional complaints that world opinion was getting a lopsided view of the space race. America admitted failures and Russia did not.