ESTABLISHING A ROCKET RESEARCH RANGE

[Music] during a recent 12-month period over 1,000 research sounding Rockets were launched principally from the North American continent with so many satellites in orbit why does the United States launch so many sounding [Applause] rockets for one thing the relatively low cost for another the ability to carry relatively large payloads the ease and low cost of payload recovery the check out of experiments which may be later flown in satellites in this chart of the atmosphere cross-section you can see the gap between balloons and satellites sounding Rockets fill this Gap contributing to the world's scientific knowledge about weather and the ionosphere at Nasa wallup station on the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia we can examine some of the facilities to guide the establishment of a new rocket research range procedures shown in the film have been modified from us operations to fit the capabilities of a newly established range what are the requirements of such a site obviously the more room available the better and any plan should provide for expansion if possible a research range tends to be shaped as a sector as wide as practical the size and angle depend greatly on the population density and safety considerations locating a firing point on a shoreline usually makes the impact area easier to clear however with land ranges recovery of payloads is easier recovery of experiments brings back sample data such as particles camera film or Emulsion packages and may permit reuse of the scientific instruments the search for a launch site should take you as far from populated areas as possible and still get access roads Communications water and electrical power consider the number of people perhaps 25 who will require living space and the conditions of their habitations temporary or permanent having selected the site let us look at the requirements of a launch facility considering that each nation has its own special problems experiments and boosters which may require modifications in this hypothetical plan let's look first at the rocket storage areas located at least a half kilometer from any area where people will normally live or work ready storage may take this form in a remote building farther too if there's no barricade control the access of people to this area and avoid the possibility of fire each rocket is electrically grounded and the building itself is grounded to a well buried girdle of copper wire or strip sometimes boosters are stored in open sheds awaiting preparation for use a separate building is usually needed for handling the payload especially if pyrotechnics or explosive grenades are to be handled depending on the payload requirements this area is at least 10 m square and located with access to the rocket Assembly Building here we see electrical checkout equipment and Handling Systems provided depending on the nature of the payload for example for the grenade experiment the timer is checked with a system of tell tail lights this test answers the question does the timer deliver firing pulses at the proper instant and in the plann sequence provision is made for tools required in rocket and payload assembly and sufficient spare parts as required if the checkout shows a weak component it must be replaced or the repairs May delay the firing many launch facilities include buildings which contain the Telemetry equipment tracking equipment and data recording sometimes these are in Vans or sometimes in the blockhous Telemetry is monitored during calibration and checkout Telemetry during the flight is received recorded and displayed workspace and Test Facilities should be provided to perform pre-flight assembly and electrical checkout of instruments tracking equipments may be remotely located such as this gmd1 tracker or a radar such as scr 584 indications from such equipment are relayed to the instrumentation facility sometimes van mounting of instrumentation gives flexibility in experimenting and permits the return of expensive equipment to the base laboratory for calibration and testing during inactive periods of the range ground support items are as important as the rockets and their payloads weather data correlates ground observations with sounding rocket observation and also determines the ability to Launch wind data and wind shear information are particularly important in the launching of simple research Rockets which in some cases are quite sensitive to winds locate the launch pad a safe distance from any other facility depending on the Rockets with a clear flight path to the range area the launch pad is at least 15 M Square it is provided Ed with fud lights loud speakers and telephone sometimes pad cameras observe the launch and document the activities other cameras on remote sites May observe test phenomena the launchers are usually simple rail types selected to match the type of Rocket elevation and azoth are adjustable as changes wind conditions often require changes in settings even as the firing time approaches the control center is located so that underground power and Communications cables can be run to the Launchpad sometimes referred to as the Block House this may also contain the instrumentation obviously this building has the heaviest roof and wall construction of concrete or cinder blocks Windows if provided must be thick 10 cm or more instead of Windows some facilities use closed circuit television equipment to permit close observation with Personnel safety provided technicians are available for maintenance cost of this equipment is relatively low multiple TV cameras provide varying viewpoints usually with pictures clearer than shown in this Motion Picture film simple radar is used to track the payload sometimes these Radars also observe the area for range safety radar data is photo recorded for analysis of trajectory Precision oscillators provide time code generation feeding a series of accurate pulses to recorders cameras and other instrumentation often remote sites are used for cameras or tracking these require timing signals and communication by land lines or radio storage assembly Communications control timing Telemetry these are the major elements of a launch facility starting at T minus 2 days we're going to see how these facilities are used to launch one type of payload in this case a grenade experiment the assembly and the initial checks on the payload may take up to 1 and 1/2 days we want to be ready to fire at the selected time at about tus 12 hours we move the rocket from the storage area to the launcher Rockets such as this need the proper dollies and handling equipment for convenience and safety notice to the roadways provided handling equipment is available to position the Nike for smooth movement onto the launch rail at about this time in a remote area the grenades are being loaded into the plastic nose cone at altitude these will be exploded in series to provide successive measurements of the speed of sound and derivation of temperatures the payload minus grenades but M with the second stage is fastened to the booster on the launch rail this should be completed by tus 4 hours about this time we begin observing the winds and other meteorological parameters to make our first impact prediction from weather data we can determine preliminary Launcher settings for impact in the desired area after the nose cone is installed with live grenades we want the minimum handling of the rocket by the least number of people now we begin to keep close track of the time beginning an actual countdown range safety information may come from range surveillance aircraft or from surveillance or tracking radar to assure that the range area is clear in the instrumentation area for this grenade experiment final equipment checks are made on the sound ranging recorders the recorders will obtain data from a quiet area nearby where a series of sound ranging microphones are installed under these covers a final check of the weather for the wind waiting a process of assembling data and Computing impact areas final adjustments can be made to the launcher for safe impact considering the current winds all will take cover and remain undercover until t plus 2 minutes in the instrumentation section all settings are checked Telemetry and recorder settings in the control center range safety is a again verified and timing and instruments are checked following a countdown manual the project scientist verifies that the experiment is ready and switches instrumentation to internal power in the rocket transponder to internal power recorders are turned on for tracking and Telemetry sound ranging recorders on 20 19 19 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 [Music] mark from this tracking recorder we cost Rockets may be fired from simple ranges so that many countries can do substantial research for the advancement of scientific knowledge in All [Music] Nations