Tag Archives: science fact

[Sep. 29, 1959] Watch the birdie! (First photo of the Earth from orbit)

September 29, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

For more than a month and a half, Explorer 6 has been a busy bee, happily conducting the most advanced science in orbit to date thanks to its highly eccentric orbit, taking it several thousand miles above the surface of the Earth, and its battery of sophisticated instruments.

What has this intrepid little fellow reaped in terms of scientific data? A veritable bonanza.

Firstly, let’s look at the most accessible treasure—the first picture of the Earth taken from orbit.

On August 14, 1959, one week after launch, Explorer 6 turned its photographic eye to its mother planet. It wasn’t a camera in the normal sense of the word; such a device would have been too heavy. Rather, it was a simple eye that scanned the sky in strips as the satellite spun around (it rotates for stability). Engineers on the ground then attempted to assemble the strips so that they might piece together into something recognizable as the Earth. It was much like trying to restore a shredded document. As Charles P. Sonnet, head of the scientific team commented, “You have to make the a priori judgment that the Earth is round.”

Apparently, one recent press conference attendee called the photo a “fake.” Chuck replied, “No, it’s not a fake… but it is pretty limited.”

Chuck Sonnet

So as a phototourist, Explorer 6 was a bit of a dud. In other categories, however, Explorer 6 is an unqualified winner. For two weeks, before the probe’s ion chamber broke down, Explorer 6 returned an unprecedented map of the Van Allen Belts of trapped radiation encircling the globe, and results are still coming in, though it is harder to determine the energy of encountered particles. The on-board cosmic ray scintillator has determined that the “solar wind,” the waves of particles emanating from the sun, are not modulated by Earth’s magnetic fields but rather are controlled almost exclusively by the solar magnetic field. Explorer 6’s magnetometer has returned a comprehensive map of Earth’s fields, which conform to theoretical predictions only out to a distance of five Earth radii—after that, they get unexpectedly variable.

Explorer 6's magetometer and the ones who built it: Paul Coleman and George Takahashi

The only field we still don’t have good data on is micrometeorites. Virtually every launched space probe has had an experiment to measure the number and energy of little orbital particles to see if they might pose a significant threat to satellites and spaceships. The data they have returned has not been robust enough to reach any real conclusions. All we can determine thus far is that there are some particles up there, but they can’t be too hazardous since our satellites haven’t been damaged by them!

Explorer 6 continues to return data, not only augmenting humanity’s fund of scientific data, but also proving the efficacy of the first digital telemetry system—a necessity for any interplanetary space shot. It is unknown how long the satellite will last, but there is no question that it has done yeoman’s work to date. It is arguably the most successful orbital probe ever launched, and it is a harbinger of good tidings for the upcoming Pioneer Able launches to the moon and Pioneer Thor deep space probe.

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P.S. Galactic Journey is now a proud member of a constellation of interesting columns. While you're waiting for me to publish my next article, why not give one of them a read!

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Science / Space Race

[Sep. 19, 1959] Anchors Aweigh! (The Navy's Transit and Vanguard launches)

September 19, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

A bit of a stop press on the Space Race as I wade through this months Astounding, which I unwisely saved for last. You should never eat dessert first…

Have you ever noticed how a train’s whistle seems to rise in pitch as the locomotive approaches and then the pitch lowers as the train departs? This is caused by the compression of sound waves as they whistle heads toward your ears followed by a decompression as it heads away. It’s called the Doppler Effect (after the 19th century Austrian scientist, Christian Doppler).

This concept will be used by satellites to provide accurate navigation aids for American military craft and, someday, civilians as well. The idea is that the satellites, called Transit, will broadcast at a fixed frequency. A receiver on the ground can tell from the quality of the Doppler frequency shifts, knowing the satellite’s orbit, where it is to within a small degree of error. Very simple in concept.

Sadly, Transit 1 failed to orbit the day-before-yesterday when its Thor Able booster malfunctioned after liftoff. On the other hand, the Navy (the service that developed the satellite) did get some useful data from the sub-orbital flight, I’m told.

Speaking of the Navy, the final flight of the Navy/civilian Vanguard program ended in success yesterday with the orbiting of Vanguard 3. It is another x-ray, magnetosphere, and micrometeoroid detecting probe along the lines of the Explorers. Its long-lasting orbit and conical shape will also allow the satellite to be used to determine the density of the upper atmosphere for decades to come.

I’ll publish more on the scientific findings of this probe as I hear them. We are beyond the days where just getting the things up is the whole story.

And with that, the Vanguard program comes to an end with three successful flights out of 11. This may sound like a poor record, particularly given the rather vicious coverage given the program by both domestic and foreign media (remember “Flopnik”?)

But Vanguard has enabled the reaping of a tremendous harvest. As a booster, it was remarkably efficient and cheap. The reliable second and third stages have been adopted as supplemental stages on other rockets, and it looks like the first stage will be turned into NASA’s new Vega second-stage system. Thanks to Vanguard, there will be American property in space for the next several hundred years.

Most importantly, Vanguard paved the way for a truly civilian space program. Though it was derived from a Navy proposal, and spin-off technology from the program is being used by the military, the idea of a purely scientific and non-military space endeavor is a powerful and important one. Our new space agency, NASA, owes much to it.

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P.S. Galactic Journey is now a proud member of a constellation of interesting columns. While you're waiting for me to publish my next article, why not give one of them a read!

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Science / Space Race

[Sep. 15, 1959] Bullseye! Second Lunik hits the moon.

September 15, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

The Soviets have accomplished another space first, striking the moon with a probe yesterday, September 14, 1959, after a speedy day-and-a-half flight.

To all accounts, the mission payload was identical to Mechta, which sailed past the moon in January. I’m still not sure whether we’re to call the thing Mecha, Lunik, or Luna, but no matter the name, there’s no question but that it was an impressive feat of astrogation; the moon is actually a surprisingly small and hard target to hit. One German scientist likened it to hitting the eye of a fly with a rifle bullet at a range of six miles. And the Soviets managed to do it on their second try (that we know of).

The 390kg package, much larger than anything America has tried sending to the moon so far, was packed with radiation detectors for measuring cosmic rays. It also carried a magnetometer and a micrometeoroid detector. Between the two Luniks and the three successful Pioneers, we should have a pretty good magnetic and radiation map of things this side of the moon.

Most significantly, from a political perspective, are the myriad of Soviet badges and medals that Lunik II spilled out on the lunar surface upon impact. Not only is the U.S.S.R. now the first nation to litter another celestial body, but I imagine they may start rumbling about owning the moon. After all, finders keepers!

Many have speculated that Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev timed his visit to the United States to take advantage of the lunar shot—or perhaps it’s the other way around. Either way, it certainly gives him bragging rights as he tours our nation.

NASA has officially replied that they have a lunar probe in the works of comparable size that may go up as early as October. You’ll certainly read about it here if it does!

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P.S. Galactic Journey is now a proud member of a constellation of interesting columns. While you're waiting for me to publish my next article, why not give one of them a read!

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Science / Space Race

The third leg of the nuclear triad (The new Polaris sub-launched missile; 9-01-1959)

September 1, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

Let me tell you the story of a missile, one that should make us (ironically) a bit safer.

Wehrner von Braun and his German team of scientists in Alabama developed a short-ranged nuclear missile called the Redstone back in 1953. It was an evolution of the wartime V-2. Then his team created the Jupiter intermediate-ranged nuclear missile, which has been used to launch a number of satellites into orbit, and which is in the process of being deployed in Italy and Turkey to threaten the Soviet Union.

There was originally an intent to mount the Jupiter missile on submarines. This is the reason for its unusually squat shape–it was supposed to fit inside the tubes of a mammoth submersible ship. The Navy quickly thought better of this idea and developed their own sub-launched missile–the Polaris. Propelled by solid fuels, unlike the liquid-fueled Jupiter, the Polaris was recently test-flown for the first time.

This marks the beginning of a whole new era of nuclear warfare: Submarines are about to constitute the third leg of an atomic weapon triad.

The first leg of the triad is the bomber, which has been a vehicle for nuclear weapon delivery since 1945. Their weakness is that they can be shot down before dropping a bomb, and they take a comparatively long time to get to target. On the other hand, they can be recalled or redirected as needed.

Missiles are the second leg, and have just come on station this year. They include the Thor and Jupiter IRBMs and the new Atlas, Titan, and Minuteman ICBMs coming on-line shortly. Missiles are incredibly fast and cannot be shot down. They also cannot be recalled or redirected.

Both bombers and missiles can be destroyed on the ground by an enemy first-strike. This is a dangerous situation for two nuclear superpowers to be in. It ensures that both countries are always looking for an opportunity to deliver a knock-out punch, which could come at any time. Bomber crews must be ready to scramble at a moment's notice. Missile crews must be trained to launch their "birds" in minutes to get their weapons off the ground before being hit. That readiness to retalliate at the first sign of a radar blip will check the other side's willingness to fire preemptively, but it also means a single mistake could bring about armageddon. Hair-triggers are dangerous things.

This is why submarines are so important. The enemy will never know where they are at any given time, thus they cannot be destroyed by a first-strike. They can fire from almost anywhere, and they can be redirected and recalled like bombers. They provide insurance that, even if the Soviets manage to destroy our missile and bomber forces in a first-strike, we will have a powerful retaliatory force. They will help relieve pressure on the nuclear "button."

Of course, the Polaris isn't deployed yet. For the next few years, we have a window of heightened tension wherein an Alas, Babylon scenario is possible, perhaps probable.

Here's hoping that the world makes it to 1965 without blowing itself up.

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P.S. Galactic Journey is now a proud member of a constellation of interesting columns. While you're waiting for me to publish my next article, why not give one of them a read!

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Science / Space Race

Trifecta (Discoverer V; Beacon 2; Titan failures; 8-15-1959)

August 15, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

The Air Force launched the fifth in its Discoverer series on August 13. Like the last one, there were no passengers on-board (though the recovery capsule was bigger this time around). Unlike the last flight, this one actually made it into polar orbit after its early afternoon launch from the deserts of California. The second stage worked properly, and a tracking station in Kodiak, Alaska (as in "the State of") registered Discoverer's healthy "beep-beeps."

The plan was to eject the 300-pound recovery capsule after orbit #16 and attempt to catch it in mid-descent. Unfortunately, what goes up does not always come down. While a fleet of recovery ships and planes milled about impatiently in the Pacific Ocean, the capsule's retrorocket fired the craft upwards rather than back to Earth. It is still in orbit, where it will remain for a long time. It's a good thing there weren't any passengers (not that they would have survived anyway; I understand that the capsule's internal temperature was far lower than expected, and any rodentnauts would have ended up micicles).

Continuing in the vein of mission fizziles, Beacon 2, a 12-foot balloon satellite design to measure atmospheric density in orbit (there is air up there–just extremely tenuous), failed to orbit when the upper stages of its Juno II rocket misfired due to premature fuel depletion on the first stage. It was a repeat of the failure of the first Beacon on October 23, 1958, which I did not cover for some unknown reason. In that case, the upper stages of the Juno I rocket fired too early.

Not quite a space shot, there was a third noteworthy rocket failure this week. At the Atlantic Missile Range yesterday, there was a triple-launch of new missiles: the Thor IRBM, which has been heavily employed both as a military system and as a launch system, the Polaris sub-launched missile, and the new Titan ICBM. The first two had good launches, though the camera package in the nosecone of the Thor has not been recovered from the Atlantic ocean. The Titan blew up on the stand, however.

Still, while it is disappointing to read about so many failures in one week, it is exciting that launches are occurring so frequently. Moreover, Explorer VI continues to do yeoman's work in orbit, supplanting Sputnik III (which failed in early May) as the most advanced space laboratory.

Next time–Astounding (packed with… yech… Garrett)!

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Science / Space Race

Earthbound Pioneer (Explorer VI; 8-08-1959)

August 8, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

We are now in the second phase of the Space Race.

Decades from now, people will debate over the exact date of the turning point. Some will argue that it started when countries started sending rockets to the moon, leaving the shackles of Earth's orbit. Others will say that spaceflight didn't leave its infancy until humans had been sent into space.

But, I contend that a whole new ballgame opened up yesterday with the launching of Explorer VI.

This latest satellite is, in some ways, just an evolutionary step. Its payload of experiments is little different from the slew of instruments carried by its predecessors, the Air Force Pioneers. It's got geiger tubes and scintillators for measuring cosmic rays, magnetometers for mapping Earth's magnetic fields, a micrometeroid detector, and a crude TV camera–all devices that went up on the ill-fated Pioneer II.

But, the probe also has an impressive array of solar cells affixed to four paddle wheels that make Explorer look like a little windmill. Moreover, the satellite is equipped with two communications systems. One of them is analog, like those employed by all previous satellites, in which information is communicated by modulating the amplitude and/or frequency of transmissions, like your AM or newfangled FM radio. The other is digital using nothing but streams of ones and zeroes. This method is far less prone to error and noise, and it uses bandwidth more efficienctly, requiring less power.

A digital system is above and beyond the needs of an orbital probe, so why bother including it? Because Explorer VI is a test-bed. A spacecraft very much like it will be launched to Venus some time in the near future, and it will need a digital system to communicate from that vast 25 million mile distance.

Until Explorer VI, we were launching little experiment packages. Now, we have a bonafide orbital scientific and engineering laboratory in space, the results of which will revolutionize where spaceflight goes from here.

A natural extension of this is that I don't have this satellite's results for you yet. Unlike my other columns, where I've been able to sum up a mission and its findings generally in one article, Explorer VI is going to collect mountains of data, and it will take time to sort it out.

So stay tuned!

P.S. The October 1959 issue of Galaxy has come out. I'm half-way through and will be telling you all about it next week. Come join me in my journey (but try not to send me letters about it until I publish the articles).

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Science / Space Race

Loveliest of Bodies (Venus, 7-25-1959)

July 25, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

from Timothy Gleason

Ishtar, Aphrodite, Venus—whatever you call it, the brightest of star-like objects in the sky has mesmerized humans for the entirety of recorded history, and likely beyond. It was among the first subjects of telescopic study, and you can bet it will be the first planetary target for space probes.

It is astonishing that, given all of the interest the Planet of Love has engendered, we know so little about our nearest planetary neighbor. The 2nd planet from the sun, Venus is an orb of mystery–she has been most reluctant to divulge her secrets.

Galileo saw that Venus went through phases, like the moon, and deduced that Venus was bright with reflected sunlight. Through transits of the sun (which happen twice a century—I hope I live to see the next ones in 2004 and 2012), we have learned that Venus has a thick atmosphere. More recently, it has been determined that Venus’ atmosphere contains several hundred times the concentration of carbon dioxide as ours. Measuring the Doppler shift of the planet’s edges, it appears that the planet rotates very very slowly, perhaps taking months to complete a rotation.

From the planet’s period and effect on other planets, we know that its mass is actually quite close to that of the Earth, just a touch smaller. It almost certainly has a rocky surface. For these reasons, many have called Venus “Earth’s twin.”

Being closer to the sun, it is likely that Venus is much hotter than the Earth, but it is difficult to say how much hotter. It used to be thought that the surface of Venus might be a global, steaming ocean, but it is more widely believed now that there is no liquid water to be found, and perhaps precious little in the atmosphere.

But that’s all we know! The clouds are too thick to see through, so we can’t see the surface as we can with Mars. Perhaps in the near future, microwave and radio astronomy will be keys to mapping Venus, but for now, it’s just a silvery pearl.

Now, every year or so, when the alignment of planets is right, we have an opportunity to send a probe to Venus on a low-energy orbit that accommodates the largest payload for any given booster. The next one will be in November. Sadly, though NASA did have plans to launch a Venus mission this year, it has been pushed back due to development teething troubles. A test satellite with prototype equipment will be sent into orbit next month; if it does well, it bodes well for a Venus probe, though such won’t launch until the latter half of next year.

It may well be that the Soviets beat us to the punch. Look for a launch later this year (but note that their opportunities are slightly different from ours as they launch from a different part of the globe).

Next up—a review of the latest IF!

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Science / Space Race

Exploring the ground (7-22-1959)

July 23, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

Just a quick stop-press today while I wait for the new magazines to come in. Apparently, NASA tried another satellite launch last week on the 16th. A Juno II rocket, which is a modified Jupiter Intermediate Ranged Ballistic Missile, had the latest in the Explorer series installed at its tip. Weighing 42 kilograms (that’s 92.4 pounds for the metrically uninitiated), it looked a bit like a bigger Pioneer 1–two truncated cones welded together at their base.

As might be expected from the choice of booster, it’s a product of Von Braun’s Alabama Army-sponsored team (which, rumor has it, may well be folded into NASA proper soon).

Its instrument complement was pretty standard stuff: geiger counters, x-ray detectors, micrometeoroid plates, thermometers. What makes this craft special are the solar power elements built into the design; the probe was built to provide long-term measurements of cosmic radiation and the Earth’s heat balance.

Sadly, the rocket lost power to its guidance system immediately after launch, and the thing started to spin in a wide, dangerous ark. A range controller detonated the booster just 5 and a half seconds into the flight. Too late for the Fourth of July, and I doubt the scientists were pleased.

I understand that the next flight of the package is scheduled for October. My fingers are crossed, but I understand NASA is planning an Air Force-contracted shot next month, and that probe, made by my friends at Space Technology Laboratories, may well include all of the same instruments and more.

Thus, the Space Race continues domestically as well as abroad. Nothing like good ol’ fashioned American competition to keep the satellite makers on their toes!
See you soon!

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Science / Space Race

Space Dogs and opportunity costs (7-14-1959)

July 14, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

It’s another flight for Otvazhnaya, the daring Space Dog, in another zoological journey. This time Otvazhnaya was joined by a different dog from last time (named “Pearl,” or the Russian equivalent thereof) as well as a bunny, whose name I do not yet know. The flight, which took place on July 10, appears to have been a duplicate of the July 2 flight.

According to TASS, the Soviet news agency, the purpose of the flight was to collect more data on the effects of radiation on living creatures. Per the agency, the space environment is not overly dangerous to space travelers. I imagine the flight was also to make sure that the spacecraft parachutes worked properly, since rapid impact with the ground is overly dangerous for space travelers. The rocket also contained a number of scientific instruments, too, for measuring the nearer regions of space.

All very exciting stuff, and it points to a level of progress very similar to our own. One wonders how much the Soviets must allocate to their space program to match our systems. While the Soviet Union looks big on a map, and it looms large in our headlines, there is no doubt that their economy is much weaker than ours. That they can afford to have regular launches means other fields (say apartment construction, food production, automobile manufacturing) must be suffering.

You won't hear about that from TASS, of course…

In two days, this month's Astounding!

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Science / Space Race

Space Bunnies! (July 9, 1959)

July 9, 2014 Gideon Marcus Leave a comment

It’s time for a Space Race update! I hear mixed cheers and groans. Well, it takes all kinds to make a column…

The Soviets have launched a rocket into space, apparently on a sub-orbital path using an equivalent to our Jupiter IRBM, with several living passengers. They are the dogs, Otvazhnaya and Sznezinka, as well as the first Space Bunny, Marfusa. The flight apparently took place on July 2, and all animals reportedly returned safely to the Earth. In fact, if the report be believed, this was Otvazhnaya's third such flight. Given the long press delay and the lack of reporting on failures, I take Soviet press releases with several grains of salt.

Still, if it’s accurate, it means that the Soviets figured out animal recovery well ahead of us. I’d estimate that the Communists are about half a year closer to a manned mission than we are.

Speaking of estimations, take a gander at IMPACT OF US AND SOVIET SPACE PROGRAMS ON WORLD OPINION, hot off the presses of the USIA Office of Research Analysis. As it says on the tin, it’s a fascinating snapshot of domestic and world opinion of the space program. It’s short, so do read it.

In particular, I liked the point that Space Race reporting has become more rational, less sensational. I also enjoyed seeing the breakdown of those nations who feel the U.S.S.R. is ahead in the Race versus those who feel the U.S.A. is in the lead. The distribution is predictable, I think.

Per the report, virtually all reporting links the space programs of the two superpowers with their military programs, which I think is sensible. That said, it is my understanding that there is increasing resistance in the U.S. Congress to letting the Army team under Von Braun continue development of the enormous Saturn rocket. It’s just too big to serve any practical military service, it is said. If the program is transferred to NASA, our fledgling civilian space program, perhaps we will have a truly inspiring non-military space presence.

If we can forget what Von Braun’s job was just 14 years ago. Ah well, “Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down!” as one wise man has observed.

Image by Starbound