Scout Development Flight Press Kit

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    HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTiil LWUNCHtC*-

    ~ ANNEX IA . For Release: Af te r Launch

    National Aeronautics and Space Administrat ion today launchedt h e f i r s t complete Scout roc ket ve hi cl e from Wallops S ta t i on , WallopsI s l a n d , V i r g i n i a , as par t o f a n NASA program t o develop a small,r e l i a b l e and f l e x i b l e s o l i d - f u e l r e s e a r c h v e h i c l e designed f o r av a r i e t y of space exp lora t ion tasks .

    The 72-foot four-s tage Scout , f i r s t a l l - s o l i d f u e l b o os te rcapab l e of o rb i t a l mi ss ions , l e f t t he l aunch ing pad a to n a b a l l i s t i c f l i g h t t o determine th e performance, s t ru c tu ra lin te g r i ty and environmenta l condi t ions o f t h e veh ic l e and t heguidance-controls system. The rocket was launched a t a n e l e v a t e dang le of 85 degrees on a n azimuth o f 107 degrees .t ra jec tory would send t h e payload t o an a l t i t u de of about 2,300

    &f

    The planned

    s t a t u t e miles and about 4,700 m i l e s downrange.The Scout car r ied 193 pounds of payload. This includ ed t h e

    ins t ru menta t ion compartment t o re la y vehic le f l i g h t t e s t d a ta t oground receiving stations and a 23-pound package of f l a r e s .

    These f l a r e s were n a r r i e d i n t h e Scout f o r Visual observa t ionof t h e f l i g h t pa th of t h e f o u r t h s t a g e . The 1 2 f l a r e s were at tachedt o t h e s k i r t o f t h e A l t a i r and f i r e d a t i n t e r v a ls a f t e r f o u r t hs tage burnout .

    The Scout f i r e d today was e ss en t i a l ly a p ro to type . Theexperience gained during t h e l aunch ing ope ra t i on and f l i g h t w i l lbe app l i ed i n t h e f u t u r e t o improve performance of th e 36,100-poundspace r e sea rch veh i c l e . Scout cons i s t s o f t he Algol, Castor, Antares,and A l t a i r rocket motors -- a l l named f o r s t a r s i n t h e c o n s t e l l a t i o n s .

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    P r o j e c t e n g i n ee r f o r t o d a y ' s tes t was James R . H a l l of Langley.The Wallops launch team w a s d i r e c t e d b y Robert T. Duffy.

    Scout i s t h e l a t e s t i n a s e r i e s of m u l t i - st a g e , s o l i d f u e lresearch r o c k e t s developed under d i rec t ion of t h e Langley ResearchCenter, ne ar Hampton, V ir g in ia . Sin ce 1945 Langley has teamed w i t hWallops t o f i r e more than 3,000 res ea rch roc ket s of f rom one t os i x stages t o st ud y phenomena of aerodynamics and s pac e f l i g h tmechanics.

    The Scout concept o r i g in a te d i n mid-1958 a t t h e Langley ResearchCenter -- i n t h e Applied Mater ia ls and Phys ic s Divis ion (AMPD).sp ec i a l Scou t p r o j ec t g roup , under W i l l i a m E. Stoney, J r . , wasformed a t Langley t o develop t he v e h i c l e .

    A

    Management of t h e Scout program a t NASA Headquarters i s underE l l i o t Mitc hel l , Ass i s tan t Di re c tor f o r Propulsion , Off ice of LaunchVehicle Programs.

    I n a d d i t i o n t o t o da y ' s t e s t l aunch , ope ra t i ona l f l i g h t s w i l lb e conducted from Wallops, where a Scout launch complex wascompleted i n ea r l y 1960.block house, and r e l a t ed ground suppor t, e l ec t r on ic s and t ra ck i ngequipment.

    The complex includes a pad, launch tower,

    As an ope r a t i on a l veh i c l e , Scout w i l l b e a b l e t o p l ac e a150-pound s a t e l l i t e i n to an o r b i t more t han 325 miles above t h eearth and will l o f t a 50-pound s c i e n t i f i c p ro be t o a n a l t i t u d eof about 10,000 m i l e s . In r e en t ry body t e s t s , Scout w i l l permi ts im u la t i on of condi t ions expected by a space veh i c l e r e tu rn ingt o the ear th ' s a tmosphere . With a b a l l i s t i c t r aj e c t o r y , i t a l s o

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    . . - - 4 -j e t s . C a s t o r i s the " tamer of t he ho r ses " i n the c o n s t e l l a t i o nG e m i n i .

    Antares, t h i r d s t a g e , i s 10 f ee t l ong and 30 inches i ndiameter , w i t h a t h r u s t i n excess of 13,600 pounds . S tab i l i zedand con tr ol le d by hydrogen peroxide j e t s a n d u t i l i z i n g l i g h t w e i g h tp l as t i c cons t ruc t i on t h roughou t i t s des ign , Antares i s a scaled-upv e r s i o n of t h e f o u r t h s t a g e and i s the only motor developeds p e c i f i c a l l y f o r Scout . Antares i s t h e b r i g h t e s t i n t h e c o n s t e l l a t i o nScorpio .

    Fourth-s tage A l t a i r , used ex tens ive ly i n s a t e l l i t e and o t he rspace r e sea rch app l i ca t i ons , i s s i x f e e t long and 18 inches i ndiameter . T h i s sm al l e s t o f t h e fou r Scout roc ke t s i s s p i ns t a b i l i z e d a n d has a 3,000-pound th ru st . A l t a i r f o r m e r l y wasknown as t h e X-248 rock et , developed f o r th e Vanguard t h i r ds t a g e .v e h i c l e s and was t h e f i r s t f u l l y d ev elope d r o ck e t t o u t i l i z el i g h t w e i g h t p las t i c cons t ruc t i on t h roughou t . A l t a i r i s a s t a rof t h e f i r s t magnitude i n t h e cons t e l l a t i on Aqu i l ae , o r Eagle.

    I t i s t h e t h i r d s tage on t h e Able and Delta launch

    Today 's tes t was t h e f i r s t f i r i n g of a complete Scout.A Scout component t e s t was conducted a t Wallops Stat ion o nA p r i l 18, 1960, t o i n v es t ig a t e t h e performance of the prev ious lyunflown f i r s t and t h i r d s tages . The second s t ag e Castor was i n e r t ,and a nose cap was used t o s imula te t h e combined weight of t h efou r th - s t age Altai r and a t y p i ca l payload.

    The Algol f i r s t s t a g e performed s a t i s f a c t o r i l y . The t h i r d -The h e a t s h i e l d which covered t h et a ge Antares d i d n o t i g n i t e :

    t h i r d s t ag e became displac ed, causing a s t r u c t u ra l f a i l u r e i nt h e v e h i c l e p r i o r t o t h i r d s t a g e i g n i t i o n .

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    ANNEX I A SvpplementRELEASE AFTER LAUNCH

    PAYLOADThe 193-pound payload w i l l remain a t tached t o the fourth

    s t a g e motor during t h e e n t i r e f l i g h t ,during launch by a f a i r i n g which i s j e t t i s o n e d a t t h i r d stagei g n i t i o n .

    The payload is p r o t e c t e d

    The payload 's miss ion i s t o measure performance of t h eScout propel lan t system, i t s guidance system, and t h e e f f e c tof the space environment on the veh ic le and i t s payload.

    The fourth s tage and payload are s p i n s t a b i l i z e d .are mounted on a spin t a b l e which i s spun up t o t h r e e 'r ev o lu t i o n s per second by th ree smal l l a t e r a l ro ck e t s j u s tp r i o r t o f o ur t h s tage i g n i t i o n .

    They

    A m et al c y l i n d r i c a l c o l l a r -- about 20-inches i n diamete rand some 15-inches long -- i s a t t a c h e d t o t h e f o u r t h stage. Ap l a s t i c dome i s mounted on i t s leading end w i t h var iousmeasuring devices a t t ac he d t o i t s unders ide .

    Fo u r t r an s m i t t e r s -- two f o r da t a transmiss ion , one rad iotr ac ki ng beacon, and one ra da r beacon -- a re moni tored byt r a c k i n g s t a t i o n s dur ing f l i g h t . The transmi~tarl.l.6,nd exper5rments a r e powered by some 190 l i q u i d z i nc s i l v e r c e l l s .

    One data t r a n s m i t t e r b r o ad c as t s f i v e c ha nn el s of i n f o r -mation on 244.3 MC a t tw o w a t t s o f power.external temperature measurements and various measurements of t h ea t t i t u d e of t h e veh ic le and i t s p o s i t i o n .

    Its data inc lude

    The s eco n d d a t a t r an s m i t t e r sends 1 4 channels of i n f o r n a t i o n

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    -_ANNEX IA Supp l . - 2 -a t e i g h t watts on 240.2 MC. It w i l l include data on compartmenttemperature , var io us motor pre ssu res , and fo u r accelerometerswhich indicate whether the payload i s wobbling.

    The second te lemeter a lso t ransmits information f rom twomagnetometers a t ta ch ed t o t he p l a s t i c dome, a Geiger-Muellercounte r t o measure secondary ra d i a t io n pe ne t ra t ion of t h epayload, and two a s p ec t i n d i c a t o r s . These a re a Langley ResearchCente r hor izon scanner and a Naval Research Lab ora tor y sun seekera l s o mounted under t h e p l a s t i c dome under small por tho le s .

    The r a d io t r a c k ing beacon t r a nsm i t s w i t h two watts ofpower on 108.08 MC and w i l l be t racked f rom Wallops Sta t ion.

    Four blade antennas are mounted o n t h e c y l i n d r ic a l c o l l a rf o r t h e t h r e e r a d i o t ransmitters . The rad ar beacon s ig na l i sr a d i a t e d by a horn antenna which i s f i t t e d i n s id e t h e c o l l a r .

    The e l e c t r o n i c p ackage i n c l u d in g b a t t e r i e s and mounhingsweighs about 110 pounds, t h e dome and a t ta ch ed measur ing devi cesweigh 37 pounds, and th e c o l l a r and an tenna about 23 pounds.The f l a r e s , mounted on the s k i r t of th e fou r th s tage , weighabout 23 pounds.

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    J u l y 1, 1960NASA announcement on t h e launch o f t h e f i r s t Scout launch vehicle(about T + 45 minutes)

    Three s t ag es of th e Scout roc ket v e h i c l e launched from WallopsS t a t i o n , V a . , a t 8:04 p . m . , EIYT, tonight were f i r e d s u c c e s s f u l l y .I g n i t i o n of t h e f i r s t , second, and t h i r d s t a ges occu rred as pro-grammed. I g n i t i o n of t h e f o u r t h s t a g e was prevented by a commandsi gn al f rom Wallops S ta t i o n when th e ve hic le appeared t o veer o ffcourse. NASA o f f i c i a l s a t the launch s i t e said Scout reached ana l t i t u d e of a t l e a s t 860 ( s ) miles and a range of approximatelyl 5 O O miles .

    Excel len t t e lemet ry was obtained through t h e f l i g h t of t h efirst, h r e e s t a g e s . T h i s was t h e f i r s t f i r i n g of t h r e e c o n t r o l l e dsoPiCa p r o p e l l a n t s t a g e s . The cause of the f l i g h t p a t h d e v i a t i o nbas no t been determined. The 36,100-ib. spac e re se ar ch ve hi cl ewas programmed fo r a b a l l i s t i c f l i g h t t o d et er mi ne t h e pe rform anc e,s t ru c t u r a l i n t e g r i t y and env ironmental cond i ti ons of t he veh i c l eand t h e guidance-controls sys tem.

    T h i s was t h e f i r s t a t t em p t t o l aunch a complete Scout rocket .It;w as e s s e n t i a l l y a proto type. The experience gained during th elaunching opera t ion w i l l b e a pp l i e d i n t h e f u t u r e t o p e r fe c t p e r -foimance i n t he Scout .

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    Correct ions f o r Scout "Guidance and Control" f a c t sh ee t .

    F i r s t p age - f i f t h gr af under "guidance" note t h a t t h e th ree-r a t e gyros are n o t i n t h e guidance compartment but near t h e lowerend of t h e t h i r d s tage .

    Page two - t h i r d g r a f - f i r s t l i n e : should read "Control i sprovided i n t h e second s tage by two pi tch and-w o yaw hydrogen-peroxide j e t s .... 1

    Page three - second l ine : should read "The f ou r r o l l c o n t ro lj e t s con tinue ope ra t i ng du r ing c oas t i ng t o p rov ide both r o l l andyaw control . Two addi t ional two-pound-thrust j e t s , i n a c t i v edur ing th e t h ru s t phase , p rovide p i t c h c on t ro l du r ing coas t i ngf l i g h t I'

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    . - .

    The Scout vehicle uses 8 "strapped down" prec i s ion gu idancesystem. T h i s i s not a t r u e i,ner%iaL guidanc e sys.6em i n which af r e e - f l o a t i n g gyro p l a t f ~ m s used. I n Scout , t h e t h r e e s i n g le -a x l s r e f e r e n c e g y r o S a r e a t t a c h e d 50 t h e E r m e of t he veh i c l e ,i t s e l f .

    Azimuth and roll o r i e n t a t i o n fe mair%Cained u r i n g f l i g h t a te s s e n t i a l l y t h e i r , i l&ial e fe rence a t t i t u d e s e s t a b l i s h e d a t launch.Guidance of the Scout i s carzfjned $a p i t c h ,

    The main components o f the guidan.ce system are t h e p i t c haxis programmer and t h e Nin%atare Irategraced Gyro ( N I s )M I G ' s , one f o r each xbeferelzz:e ax is , coweet ; the veM.c l e f s dev i a-

    Three

    t ions from the programmed c07nse ,The pitch. ax is progrm e xp ccmsis ts of' t w o components--a t imer,

    which provides a t f m e base f o r t h e p i t c h p m g r m , a n d a programmerpower supply.s i g n a l s t o t h e p i t c h ax i s M I Q th ru :gh a s e t of s i x potent ionometers .

    The p r o g r m e r I s a 3 - c p3weaa supply which sends

    The guidance compa~tment n *.he S c a ~ t s 93ca%ed betweenthe t h i r d and fouzath stages "Fhe a ~ t , o p i l s t p i t c h programmer,f i r i n g s eque nce p r o g r m i e r , M%CQ , aborig with th ree rate gyrosand o ther r e l a t e d i n a t r m e n t a t i o E a r e c on ta in ed .in t h i s u n i t ,

    Co1.aTRoL7SThe f i r s t th ree stages of the Scou t v e h i c l e a r e c o n t r o l l e d .

    The f o u r t h s t a g e i s sp in-s tab%l j .zed ,

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    The f i r s t s t a g e c o n t r o l i s provided by a convent ional hydrau l icp o s i t i o n s e r v o .oper a te j e t vanes and movable aerodynamic t i p con t ro l s .

    j e t vanes are emersed i n t h e e x ha u st o f t h e Algol motor and providet h e m ajo r i t y of con t ro l dur ing t h e t h r u s t phase of t h e f i r s t s t a g e .Smal l movable t ips loca ted a t t h e o u t e r en ds of t h e f i x e d f i n sprov ide con t ro l dur ing t h e A l g o l ' s co as ti ng phase. Two se rv oa c t u a t o r s i n t h e p i t c h p la n e f i n s ( o p po s it e s i d e s ) are synchronizeda nd re sp on d t o p i t c h e r r o r s i g n a l s ,yaw p la n e f i n s c o n t r o l yaw and roll.

    A s e r vo a c t u a t o r i n ea ch of t h e A l g o l ' s f o u r f i n sThe four

    Two a c t u a t o r s i n t h e op posing

    The small t r i a n g ul a r s t e e l t i p co nt ro l s measure 94 inches ona s id e and weighs 9 pounds each.1-3/4 inches , t a p e r i n g t o a p o i n t a t t h e o u t e r t i p .molybdenum j e t vanes a r e 8-5/8 inches by 8-3/4 inches .weighs 36 pounds.wedge f o r flame p r o t e c t i o n .

    They have a base th ickness o fThe s o l i d

    EachThe ends of t h e vanes have a p l a s t i c f i b r e g l a ss

    Control i s provided i n t h e second stage by two pitch and yawhydrogen-peroxide reaction jets, l o ca t e d i n t h e C a s t o r q s s k i r ts e c t i o n . The j e t s have a nominal thrust of 450 pounds but areopera t ed t o y i e l d 600 pounds f o r about t he f i r s t f i v e seconds ofsecond s tage burning f l i g h t .

    Four 20-pound pressure j e t s provide r o l l con t ro l and ope ra t ed i f f e r e n t i a l l y ,

    Hydrogen-peroxide reaction j e t s i n t h e s k i r t of t he Antaresare used t o c o n t r o l t h e t h i r d s t a g e . T o a l l ow f o r l ong coas t i ng

    per iods a f t e r burnout (up t o 600 seconds) , the Antares has two setsof cont ro ls . During burning f l i g h t , fo ur 44-pound re ac t i on j e t s

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    provide pitch and yaw control and four 2-pound jets, roll control.In the coasting period, after zero thrust, six two-pound jets areemployed, two for each axis . Pitch control jets operate singly,the yaw jets in pairs, and the roll jets differentially in pairs.

    Fourth stage control is accomplished by spin-stabilization.The Altair is spun to 160 rpm by three small rockets mounted

    tangentially on a large diameter bearing located in the skirtof the fourth stage.stage coasting, prior to fourth stage ignition and separation.

    Spinning i s begun near the end of third

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