| Description | ' At an informal meeting of the S.1 Working Group of the Satellite Experiments Coordinating Group fo the British National Committee on Space Research, held on 8 February 1960 at University College London.
Present; Mr M C Robins, Chairman; Dr R L F Boyd; Dr H Elliot; Professor J Sayers; Dr A P Wilmore
1. Visit to NASA January 1960
Dr Willmore outlined the results of discussion with NASA during the recent visit of 19-25 January 1960. A summary paper was being prepared. (see NCSP/20(60)), but salient points were:
NASA planned 8 development scout vehicles ; (6 rocket probes and 2 satellite launchings) of which the UK satellite would be the 9th scheduled firing, in September 1961
A sketch desing (ie all matters of principle decided) was needed by August 1960
Some features would be;
Orbit inclination 55 degrees
Minimum lifetime 6 months
Perigee 200 +/- 50 n. miles
Apogee 600 n. miles
Payload 150 pounds
Nominal cone diametere 25 inches
Maximum skin diameter at base 22.4 inches
Aerials 26 - 30 inches long; 4 in number, fed 90 degree out of phase
About 100 days would give complete scan of earth (within inclination limits)
Separation from final motor stage would be arranged
Structural design: some load taken by skin, batteries located aroung equator, electronics located centrally
2. Satellite Design
Professor Sayers thought it would be necessary to turn off the UCL probes during operation of his equipment. He would need 2 spheres, a few inches in diameter, preferable on separate stalks rather than on the NASA aerials, He would prefer an unpressurized satellit.
Dr Elliot would need a 5 inch cube in the "front" of the satellite to contain a 4 inch sphere
UCL would need Lyman - a and X-ray dtectors on the skin, with two additional probes.
Questions needing early consideration;
What power supply (battery or solar cell), and what telemetry and data storage are required?
What radio beacons and command links are necessary?
How should byt Birmingham/UCL switching be arranged?
What tracking and visibility requirement are important?
3. Organization
The combined US/UK Working Group will include;
Project managers US Dr Baumann, Goddard Space Centre, NASA; UK M.O Robins, UCL
UK representatives fromBirmingham University, Imperial College London, and University College London
US representatives for Telemetry, Coding and R.F
Structures
Power
Testing
Vehicle
Electrical layout
Operation Tracking, Launching,Telemetry and Data
Thermal Design
The Working Group would meet as required.
4. Next NASA Meeting
It was proposed that a meeting in Washington of the full US/uk Working Group should take place on 15 -16 March 1960. Questions needing discussion on that occasion would be:
What is angula acceleeration during satellite spin up period?
What environmental tests are required?
5. Date of next meeting
It was planned to hold the next meeting of the UK Group at 10.15 am n 29 February 1960 at UCL. ' |