Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Some preparations for the International Geophysical Year Earth satellite program

1957; American Geophysical Union; Volume: 38; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1029/tr038i004p00450

2379-6723

Homer E. Newell,

Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies

If all goes as planned, a number of small artificial satellites of the Earth will be launched during the International Geophysical Year. The IGY satellites will be launched by means of a finless three‐staged rocket weighing about 11 tons. The satellites will be small weighing on the order of 21.5 pounds. To make the utmost use of this small weight, the instrumentation must be miniaturized as much as possible, using such things as transistors and ferrite cores, and the most efficient power‐supply systems obtainable. Nevertheless, there is a considerable list of worthwhile experiments that might be done in such a small satellite including observations of solar radiation, cosmic rays, the Earth's magnetic field, the ratio of radiation influx to the atmosphere to the radiation efflux, micrometeors and dust in space, the cloud cover over the Earth, auroral particles, the density of the upper atmosphere, and geodetic parameters. The first four experiments have already been selected by the Technical Panel for the Earth Satellite Program to be attempted during the IGY. Since the last two listed require only careful observation of the satellite's motion, they will certainly be done also. The initial IGY satellites will open a new frontier of science, of engineering, and of Man's achievement. The future possibilities of research from such space vehicles are exciting to contemplate, particularly in the light of possible increases in total payload weight, and increased flexibility in the choice of orbital inclinations and altitudes.