ffir"

MILITARY SPACE PROJECTS

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMÂTION

AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE OF
THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANNG
OF THE ESPIONAGE LAI{¡S, TITLE I8, U.S.C,,
SECÎIONS 793 AND ?94, THE TRANSMISSION
OR THE REVELATION OF ITS CONTENTS IN
ANY MANNER TO AN T'NAUIHORIZED PER.
SON IS PROHIBITED BY IJIIV.

OUARTER ENDED 30 JUNE 1959

Deportmenl of Defense
Woshington 25,D.C.

J$IüEf-
 SB@&ffiF
AÞVANqED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY
WASH|NGTON 25, D. C.

July 28" 1959

MEMORANDUM r.OR THE SECRETARY Ol. DEFENSE

SUBJEGT; Progress Report on Military Space Projects for

Ouarter Ended June 30, 1959
',:I
,..t
This transrnits the Military Space Projects Report for the
quarter ended June 30, 1959.

Project TIROS {rneteorological ""teilite¡ and Project CENTAUR

(high energy upper stage) were transfert.ed to the. National Ae¡onau-
tics and Space ,Administration on April 13, 1959, and July I, f959,
respectively. Therefore, this is the Last tirne Progress on these
projects will be included in this report. How'ever, because of their
potentíal rnilitary application, the Advanced Research Proiects
Agency will rnaintain close liaison with the National Aeronau.tics and
Space ,{dministration in order to keep abreast of progress in these
two important proj ects.

Highlights of rnajor events to date are brief,ly covered in the

accornpanying draft of your letter of transrnittaL of the report to the
President" .^att%
(;"
tÈr
E

\?._-.t
' -Æ*#_Ê_
-
C/roRear Adrn, , USN
Acting Director

lncl. :
Report, subj e ct
as above

ii
SIE@RE4
 S-EÆKE T*
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
*ASHINGToN
July 28, 19 59

Dear M¡. Pre sident:

I arn forwarding herewith the Military Space Projects Repoït for the
quarter ended Ju¡re 30, 1959,
The.DISCOVERER II satellite was successfully launched into a polar
orbit on April 13, 1959, frorn the Pacific Missile Range. The tirner corn-
rnand reset failed to adjust to the actual orbit period, which was less than
planned; consequently, the bio¡nedical capsule was not ejected in the planned
recovery area, Search opeïations failed to locate the capsule, after it was
reported seen in the .Spitzbergen, Norway, area. DISCOVERER III, Iaunched
on June 3, 1959, and DISCOYTRER lV, launched on June 25, 7959, experi-
enced su.ccedsful ascent, separation and orbit boost; however, both vehicles
failed to achieve orbit. DISCOVERER.V, originally scheduled for JuIy I'
1959, has been postponed until July 28' 1959.
Due to launch pad availability problerns and öfficulty with the Àf f.¿S-p
rnissile" the first MIDAS (very early warning satellite) Iaunch has been
delayed two rnonths to January Ip60,
Firrn objectives have been established for the SAMOS (reconnaissance
satellite) project with polar orbiting satellite.s capable of perforrning visual
and ferret reconnaissance functions. The first flight is scheduled for April
r9 60.

The first two of the eight engines for the SATLIRN (clustered booster)
project have been successfully tested at the Arrny Ballistic Missile Agency.
Developrnent of the navigation and cornrnunication satellites is in ihe hard-
waïe stage and con-tinues on schedule.
As indicated in rny letter transrrritting the previous quarterly report,
project TIROS (rneteorolo gical satellite) was transferred to the National Àero-
nautics and Space Administration effective April 13, 1959' In addition' proj -
ect CENTAUR, the high energy uPller stage" was transferred to the National
Aeronautics and Space Adrninistration .at the cloqe of this quarter.
With great respect, I arn
Faithfully Your s, é"'\
l-Þ rt

lsl Thomas S. Gates \L-Y

DePuty
IIncI. :
Report
cc: Members of the National Aeronautics and Space Council
The Pre sident
The White House
sËaRE-r
iii
 stsGffi
çONTENTS

P.€g

PROGRESS HIGHLIGHTS t-z

TOPICAL SUMÀ{ARY

ÐÌSCOVERER (Cornponent Testing Satellite) 5- I

SAMOS (Reconnais sance Satellite) 8-LZ

MIDIS {Yery,. Early, Warning. Satellite) l3-r5

T.IROS .(Meteorological Satellite) r6

T E.{NSIT (Navigation Satellite) l7- l9

NOTUS ( Comrnunic ation Satellite) zo-22

SHEPHERD (T rackíng. Network) 23-25

LONGSIGHT (Fea.sibility Strudie s and Exploratory

Re search) z6

T RIBE ( Yehicle Ðeveloprnent and Modification)

S.{T URN (Clustered Engine) z7 -30

CTNTAUR (High Energy Upper Stage) 30_ 3l

Upper Stage Modification 3t-32

. Large Thrusl Test Stand 32

STA'TUS OF'T'UNDS 33

I,AUNGH' SCIIEDULE 34

FLIGHT DATA 35

1v

S'EeñfiI"
 S ECR,E T
ILIJUSTRATIONS

Figur e

r.ilrn Series of DISCOVERER Launch I

Biornedical Package for DISCOVERER Flight )

SAlvfOS Visual Reconnaissance Package

(t-2) Mo ckup 3

Infra-red Scãnner - tr'irst MIDAS Ftight 4

TRANSIT Systern OPeration 5

NAV-I, Navigation Satellite 6

S,A.TURN Tail Area - tr'ull:Sca1e Mockup 7

Singte H-I Rocketdyne Engile on .A'BMA Test Stand I

SAT URN Static Test Tower 9

\
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v

SE€Rfl"F-
 PROqRESS HIGHLIGHTS

During the Quarter Ended June 30, lgSg

(Project eode narne s were assigned to all rnajor .A.RPÂ projects

during the qìlarter and are evident throughqut this document. )

On April 13, 7959, DISCOVERER II was successfully la'.mched

into orbit fro¡n the Pacific Missile Ranþe. The recoverable capsule
"-l was not ejected in the planned recovery area,however, and an intensive
search was unsuccessful. Although DISCOVERER lll and DIS COVERER
IV, lar¡nched June 3 and June 25 respectively, experienced successful
ascent,'separation and orbit boost, these vehicles failed to achieve orbit.

Lanrnch of the initial SÀMOS orrrr"i satellite, forrnerly

"" " "s"rrce
de signa.ted. SEI¡"TRY, is scheduled for April'1p60-and will contain both
visual and ferret payloads .
The first flyable infra- red s caffler for Phase I of the MIDAS inf ra-
red reconnaissance satellite progxãrn was delivered in June, and the
first satellite launch is scheduled'for January 1p60" Delay of aPprox-
irnately two rnonths is due to conllict irr pad schedules and to difficulty in
tb.e ATLAS-D prograrn.

Transfer to N.{SA of t}.e rneteorological satellite project (TIROS)

was rnade in "â,pril 19 59"

Launching of the first n.avigation satellite (TRANSIT I) is now

scheduled for rnid- Septernbe r. The satellite equiprnent ís in final as-
sernbly and te st,

Cornrnunications satellite project (NOTUS) calls for developrnent

".,1 of a delayed repeater satellite systern (COURIER) and an instantaneous
{
repeater satellite systern cornprised of three sub-projects, STEER,
TACKT.E and DECREE. The first CO URIER satellite is scheduled in
tr'ebruary 1960. Launchings of instantaneous rePeatet satelLites are
scheduled to begin in iate 1960,

The cornbined MIMTRÀCK-DOPLO C fence, a poxtion of Project

SHEPHERD, continues to successfully track satellites in space"

Unde r TRIBE, tåe Þroject for developrnent of à continuing farnily

of rnilitary space vehicles, the first two.engines of the 1.5 rnilli on pound
th¡ust cluster engine SÂTURN were successfully fired ãt ABMÁ..
1

SEGÆtr*
 s-B@fiffiII"
I'abrication of a full scale rnockup of a.SATURN booster tail section is
cornplete and all rnajor structural drawings for the SÀTURN test
vehicle were releaged.

The Be1l=Hustter upper stage vehicle (code narne A.GENA) is being

rnodified to provide a greatly irnproved high altitude capability.
r The CEN TAIIR pr'oject (high energy uppe r stage) r¡¡ill be trans-
ferred to NASA. on July 1, 1959. Assernbly of the engine is near
cornpletion and the first ru¡r date is scheduled for July 1959,

é"*\
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S,E.@RË1I
 S'B'G'R"E#
TOPIC.AL ST¡MM,ARY
DISCOVERER PROJEC'.7
( COMPONENT TESTING SATELTITE)

INTRODUCTION

Project Obj ective s - The objectives of tlle Discoverer Satellite Pro-

Developrnent and
Testing of Cornpon-
ents for Military
ject are to conduct research and development
on components, equiprnent, ins trurne ntation,
propuls ion, data proce s sing, cornrnulications
and operating techniques. Developrnent testíng
I

Space Technology | --.-

Prograrn. will be conducted in a secure rnilitary lnanner
and at an early date ¡elative to over-all system
developrnent s chedule s. Developrnents accoln-
plished under this Project.are expected to rnake
rnajo r contributions to ff¡.any advanced rnilitary
. space systerrÌs. For exannple, MIDÀS' SENTRY
and the SAC Recall Cornrnunications Satellite
witl all use the basic satellite vêhicle, and to
varying dqgrees, components, cornrnr:ni cation s,
tracking equiprnent, and ope rating techniques
developed and tested in this prograrn.

The Discoverer project is characterized by an

open-ended series of space flights which will
be utjlized for testing classífied equiprnents
within the space environrnent' The prograrn
, perrnits varied test conditions which wiÌl duplí -
cãte the actual operating conditions of the space
equiprne nt being tested. All of the earlier
flights planned for this project wiLl utilize the
THOR IRBM booster and the AGENA second
stage.
i -ri',:
Flight Schedule The current schedule for the Discoverer Ploject
calls for a total of 2) firings through fiscal
year 1961¡, the majority of which.will be in
físcat year 19 60,

s-E^c.*æ'ry
 "SiB@:Rffi
prscovqRER I.LIGI{T5

DISCOVERER TI

DISCOVTRER II Oã Àpril !3, 1959, DIS COVERER Il was suc-

6ucces sfully ces sfully injected into orbit approxirnately
achieved polar six rninute s after being launehed frorn
orbit. Vandenber g. .A.ir Forcê Ba-se. The 1,858 1b'
DI*SCOVERER lI vehicle, corataining 6,352 lbs'
of propeJ.lants, sepa.rated frorn the THOR
boosteï and coasted to near-aPogeê altitudÞ
whe¡e rocket engine ignition occur¡ed a¡rd
required orbital v.elocity was af,tåi¡red. The
lxrtellite required p0.43 rniaute s to cornplete
an al.rno st circular orbit of the ea¡th with an
apogee of 215.7 and a perigee of I57 ,6 statute
rnile s .

Orbit, ejection, During the seventeenth orbit the satellite nose

and re- entry a3- w.a6 ti.lted 60 dêgrees downward to pe rrnit
pects successful. ejection to caus€ r€-en'try of t}:,e 197 lb' recov-
er.able capeule payload. Telernetered data. ghorp
that control and. ejection equipment oPerated ai;
p1a:nned.

Capsule did not -4. reset error, introduced lnto tÏe satellité tirnér
irnpact in r ecove ry by ground co.srrnand od the second PaËs' how*
etrea; search urrsuc - ev.er, made it irnpo ssibte to adjust capsule
ce s sfuf. -ej ection to perrnit irnpact ¡rvitlain the plaruaed re-
coveïy.area¡ and. the- ãutozn¿tic ejection progralrl
.tsok effect. Based. on t}le known orbit charãcter-
istics and tlee predicted ti¡ne o{ ¿utornatic eiection
occurrerlce, it was calculated that the c¿:p¡ule
would irnpact near th¡e Arctic Circle. À n'spa.ce
watchrr 'wag alerted a¡rd, et the predicted tlrne
a¡rd i¡.the predicted area, observers o¿ the
N.qrwègiär islalds of Spitzbergen s¿w a r{star-
búïst,rr probably foil chaff, and a descendlng
parachute. Search activitie s conducted by tJre
Norwegia:r governïnerrt arrd the U' S. Aír Fo¡ce
throughorrt the €xtrerne ly rug ge d., sno w' cov€r€ d¡
Spitzbergen. aïea were rr¡tsuc ces sful.

4
gE@rR..E4
 .s"Kñfr#
r .and tele-
R.ada Telernetry, radar beacon and continuous -wave
metry contact beãcon operation was excellent thoughout the
excellert, lifetirne of the batteries. Telernetry and radar
beacon were operative until after the 25th pass
(about one and one-}aLf days)' c onfirrning pre-
dicted batJery life. The conti¡ruous - wave beacon,
which operates frorn its owrr. battern, was heard
for the last ti¡ne on April 19, al¡no st a week ãfter
Lar:nch. The satellitÊ, visible only Ín t}re Ânt-
arctíc region because of its orbital plane in
rêl¿tion to the surr, was sighted rePeatedly in
that area. It was last seen at the. South Pole on
,dpril 25 and is believed to have re -entered the
atrrÌo sphere the next day.

Cb-anges ma.de to Steps have been t¿Jten to prevent tecurrerrce of

pr event recurfence the error which caused Loss of ejection tirner
of error. co¡úrol. The inte ri¡n tirner ins t¿"I]ed in the
vellicLe has been replaced by the rnore sophis-
ticated Fairchild tirner, previously pþnnecl for
ír stallation in DISCOYERER IV"
pfqç9vEE4elg
DISCOVERTR III DISCOVERER lll was lar:nched frorn the Pacífic
failed to achieve Missile Range on Ju¡re 3 after three unsuccessf.ul
orbit, attenpts during the previous two weeks.
Inclernent ìr¡eatheï and rninor tech:lica1 difjicu1Líes
wifh the lift-off stagin.g caused the Po stPonernents.
Lanrnch, ascent, separation, coast, and orbital
boost'were accornplished as planned' Prernature
satetlite engine shut-down resulted in failure to
achieve required orbitat velocíty, and irnpact
occurred approxirnãte1y 30 d.egres s south of the
equãtof. Indications are that fuel exhaustion was
thê cause of premature shut-down, since fuel for
additiona-I burning sho,uld have been present in the
tanks at tJ:e tirne of shut- down.

DISCOVERE"R IV
D]SCO\rERER IV DISCOVERÌ¡:R IV was lanurched on June 25 frorn
faíled to achieve Pacific Missile Range r(See Figure l). Lar:lch,
orbit. .ascent, separation cosst, a.rrd orbit bbo5t were

5
.se<*'m*1
 *SÆGWT
successfully accomplished. HùwÉrver' the vehicle
failed to achi.eve orbit. A detailed review of
DISCOVERER iII and.V flight records is being
rnade since neither vehicle ach.ieved orbít, in
spite of successful systerns and cornporrent oper-
ation. Seve¡al mcdification.s a::e planned to
increase the probabi.tity of achieving or:bit, such
as a charrge in fuel and a reduction of weighi in
orbit, Launch cf DISCOVERER V on JuIy t has
been posiporred uróil this review has been corn-
pleted.

FUTURE T"LIGHTS

Vehicles on hand DISCOVERER V is in.stal.Ied on. a Vandenberg Air

at Va.ndenberg, Santa For:ce Base launch pa.d' .l vrc, ¿dditional satellites
Crtz an.d Palo Alto. are at Vandenberg undergoing pre-rnating checks.
At Sa.nla C¡uz Test Bzuse (SCTB), two wehicles
are installed in.test stands aw'aiting accePtance
testing, A third vehicle is ready fo:: installation
when a stand becornes avail.able. Four vehicles
ar e at the Modification and Ch.e ckout Center at
Palo Alto.

BIOMEDÍ CAL RECOVER'Y PROGR,q.M

Successfuf data Extensive testing of +J: e Biornedícal Recovery

obtained fr om lrMe - Capsu-les is being conducted. 'rMe chÞ.ni cal. Micerl
chanical Mice rr on (rnulti - vibr ato:: s ernittin-g a puise sirniiar to the
DISCOVERER II --heartbeat of Live rnice) wer:e car::ied in the DIS-
ftight. COVERER Ii rer:r-,very capsule instead of a live
'payload. Telerneüered data showed víability on
all chan-nels du.ring the flighi'
Liwe r¡rice data Live rnice, contained. in the life-cetl of DISCOVER- i.",.
successful on DIS- E.R III, were in a. satisfactoty con.dition thïoughout I

COVERER III flight. the period of telernetry recePtion and thei:r be-
hawior was as predicted' The ani¡nal s sustall¡-ed
1l G acceleration during THOR boost and about
eiglrt rninutes of weightlessness between the start
of coast and re-entry. Photographs of a bio-
rrredical package rnay be seen in tr'igu.re 2.

6
.-s,E:@R-$e ti
,<.nÐ)à
 SJWT

TELEMETR.YÂND TRACKING

Down-range xzdzr t'lights of the fi¡st three DISCOVERER vehicle s

st-ation need.ed for revealed that .additional radar data is required
addition¿1 CO'i1ÊP,- i=::nediateLy
DTS ¡ sabital i:r.iection to obtain ixæciee
"¡Xs
ER f'1ight Dãta. calculation of orbit¿r1 trajectory. During the

r¿dar. Surveys have indicated the de sirability of

locati.g a:r additional statioa on the southetn típ
of B'aja, Californi¿. This possíbility is being
actively explored.

Mod.ification of two Modifications to two VC-2. vessels fo¡ use in

tracking .and recov- tra.cking and recovery operatlons were cornpleted
ery vessels es- cluring the latter part of Jr-r.ae with the exception
senfially cornplete. of i¡r q&rlLation and testing of certain direction
fiading gquíprnent. Both ships departed for San
Francisco on June 28" 1959 ". and were scheduled
to -arrive at Fearl l{arbor on July 3, L959. Ïb:ey
will be rmder operatiooal control of the Cornrna.nde r,
Pâcific Missile 4ange. While these ships are
desigrrated for tracking and. recovery operations for
several satelLite projects, tJreir initial use will be
associated with the DISCOYERER Frograrn"
= c¿.PsuLE REcovERY TRATNÌNG

Operationally- ready The recovery forces, although o pe rat ionally-

ïecovery forces r.eady, are being given fult-scale tra^ining exerclses
continuing trairring i:etolvilg location and recovery of ca¡rsules dropped
prograrnÞ. by parachute frorn B-47 ¿.ircraft. P:rogre s sive
lrnprove rne nt has been dernonstiated tn both air an:d
sea rêcove ry traírring rris sions . ,q,bout 90 percent
of air pickup atterrìpto were successful this qu-artêr,
ae cornpared with IesS tllan 50 percent duri.:rg the
first rnonth of training,

s-Ecmæs
 SfERET*

Flgure 1
FiLo serles
Of DISCOVERER IV
launching fron
Vaßdenberg A¡8.

S.EGRt{.*
 BIOMEDICAL PACKAGE

.*
l,: _-

Veterinory Surgeons implonting Exominolion ol food pock prior

viobility trqnsm¡tter electrodes to instollotion in viobility copsule.
¡nlo subiect. Numbers identify wove lenglhs
ossigned to different subiects.

l$

lnstollotion of eleclricol connection s life cell ploced in oltitude chomber

belween life cell ond chossis. prior to test.

F/6Ue[ 2 sEG'llfT
 SAMOS PROJECT
(I'.ORMERLY,SENTRY)

INTRODUCTION

Project Renarned This project was formerly known as the WS-Il7L

or SENTRY Prograrn prior to the establishrnent
of DISCOVERER and MIDAS as separate projects.
It was recently narned 6AMO S to rernove the
earlier all-inclusive connotation associated with
the SENTRY Èit1e.

SAMOS to provide The objective of the SAMOS project is the de-

both Visual (Photog- veloprnent of a reconnaissance systern utilizing
raphnc) and Ferret polar orbiting satellites to collect and process
(Electronic ) data. visual or photographic data and ferret or
ele ctrornagnetic data. Specifically, the SAMOS
systern is expected to ãcquire a Ereat arnorrnt
of technical intelligence, re sulting in a rnore
precise knowledge and evaluation of enemy
rnilitary and industriaf strength and their de-
ployrnent, The data obtained should enable the
United States to do a better target analysis job
and to detect and identify unknown targets.
Inforrnation obtained will pr ovide evidence of
build-up and consequently relatively long-1ead
warning of attack.

Ground acquisition Two approaches are being developed for acquis-

of data by capsufe ition of intelligence data: (1) the recovery systern
re cove ry and by in which a data capsule is ejected frorn the
readout. satellite upon coûunand and physically recovered,
and (2) the electronic data readout system in
which all data is transrnitted upon cornrnand to
ground stations. The recovery systern is used
for photography and the data reãdout system for
both ¡rhotography and ferret. The recovery systern
will be used when rapid tirne response is not
necessary, thus perrnitting collection of data over
a large geographíc aïea at a rate which would
exceed the lirnits of a readout link capability' The-
Áutt"\d
í='
stsfu* \-.J
 photographic readout syÊtem v,¡ill be used for
surveiflance of specific tãrgets when tirne re-
sponse is an irnportant factor.

Flight Program Tle prograrn ioitially included22 launchings.

Cu¡rent prograrn reviews of payloads planned
rnay reduce this to 18 launchings. The first
launching is schedufed for April, 1960.

SÁ.MOS PAYLOADS

GENERAL l-:u

Initial flights to .A' dual payload, consisting of cornpornents of both

bave both visu¿l and visual and ferret systerns, will be used on the
ferret capabilitie s. initial developrnent flights to test equiprnent,
'ïl/hen in orbit, both the vi.sr:al and ferret equip-
rnent will be checked out for satisfactory operation,
prior to jettisoning of the ferret payload, The
visual payload will then be perrnitted to operate
without interference and wiII have a useful. life
of l0 to 15 days, depending upon the power supply
used. Later satellites will carry only the visual
or the ferret payload.
Visu¿rl payload to À wideband data link will be used for the visual
utilize wideband payload gror:nd-space cornrnr:nication.s, This
data link. link includes a payload carnera' using strip filrn
-- which is autornatícally developed while in orbit.

On ground station c ornmand, r:eadout of the de-

veloped negative is accornplished by electronic
scanning (in the satelJite) and conversion of the
irnage to a video signal for transrnissÍon to a
ground st¿tion over the wide-band lin-lc, The I --
video signal is then converted into rnodulated I "¡..:5

lines and displayed on a kinescope, The kínescope

lines are photographed by .a 35 m¡n continu.ous -
strip carne ra which records the irnages as a
series of positive frarne s,
Recovery Payload Bids for developrnent of recovery payloads have
been received and are being evaluated. The
design objective for tJre recovery camera'is to

l'Iights of first
visual payload s (E-1)
to be used for corn-
ponent te sting.
t-l durnrny .payload
cornPl€tei ground
equiprne nt progres s
is substantial.
-A.s sernbly of E'l
pa ckage is underway.
E-Z payload goal is
to aclrieve ZO-loot
gr ould r.e solution.
E-2 payload in ad-
vanced design stage;
sorne fabrication
sta¡ted.
obtain resolution sufficient to identify objects
on the ground as srnall aÊ five feet on a side.
VISUÀL
Photo payloads, ernploying the readout technique,
to be used in the initial vehicles, have been
de signated trE-I'r and include sorne cornponents
of a rnore advanced. design payload, designated
ttË-z, tt The E-I payload will te st in orbit the
fikn storage transport unit, experiemental
corrtrol devices, comrnand control systern and
t'ne E-Z payload processor and readout systern.
The ,E-l durnrny payload is available and will be
used to provide rnechanical fit and electrical
harness cornpatibility with the satellite vehicle.
Fa-brication.and. assernbly of the E-I gror:nd
handling equiprne nt is cornplete.
The first flyable visual reconnaissance (.E-1)
package, now being as sernbled, contains corn-
ponent iefinernents, particularly in r eadout,
i¡ str urnentation and cÕntrol.
The design objective of tf,:,e E-Z version is to
achieve grorrnd resolution oÍ ZO leet. This pay-
=1oad witl be controllable to perrnit photograph-
. ing of ground objects 150 rnile s on either side
of tle flight path and I? degrees fore or aft along
tJre flight path. Control for a given rnission will
bé entered into a vehicle programrner by gror:ld
station cornma^nd.
.A.ll detail and as sernbly drawings for the E- 2
payload calnera.aïe finished. Hardware pack-
aging of the optical systern for the'36-inch focal-
length lens was accornplished and collirnato r
testing indicate s performance exceeds design
specifications. (See Figure 3)
a\
IO J
SË€R-IffiT-
 JÆÆeffi*
T'ERRET

Ferret p:ryload The reoriented fetret recon¡ais sance pfograrn

provide s for three provide s for the developrnent of th¡ee payloads
progrès sively rnore attainilg progressively advanced design con-
sophisticated ver - gistent with rnaintena¡rce of ptograrn scheduling.
sions. These payloade are de signated F-1, F-2, and
F-3 and will be used to intercePt eleitronic
ernissions, measure and store the signal para-
rneters, ¿nd transrnit the data to ground rece-
iving stations on co'm¡nand.

I'erret payload All ferret payload work is proceeding on gb.hedule.

work proceedilg The second article of the I'-l Prototype vehicle
on schedule, eqrríprnent was checked out cornpletely. Quali-
fication testing of the F-l payload will be conducted
in July. Two antenna assernblies have been corn-
pLeted for rJ:e F-Z payload. Assernbly drawings
for the F-2 payload data handling unit and grou¡d
data han'dling equiprnent have been released. for
fat¡rication.

I.Á.CILITÏES .{ND SITES

TRACI{ING

Prograrn r equire s The í,S-.A.lvtOS.- Prograrn requires an extensiv.e

extensive ground ground data handling oetwork, including several
data handling net- tracking and acquisition stations and a central
work. data processing and control facility to be located
at Sunlyvale, California. Tracklng stations are
plarmed for the eastern, western, and central
rêgions of the United States" In addition, use will
be rnade of DIS COVERER facilities as applicable.

Control equiprnent A study of fhe reqrrirernents for data obtained and

being developed for required by tracking statioÍr.s has resulted in the
tracking stations. start of developrnent of the Frogra¡nrnable Irrte -
grated Control Equiprnent (PICE) systern. This
equiprnent, installed at tracking stations, will
accept ar.d store alJ incorning data and make por-
tions of the data avâi]able instantaneously.
Specifications for this equipment are cornplete.

li
s#ffifrT*
 SJEßE.Etr**-
Conatructlon of Conetruction of tbe fir s't incri:ment of the
control center near- Develpprnent Co¡rt¡ol Ce.ater at LMSD,, Suanyvale,
ing cornpletion. CaIIfo rnia, wilì bê eorn¡rleted i¡¡ Decernber 1959.
. Deulgn o{ the ie eco¡d i¡cr.ement le echeduled for
cornpletlon ln July. õonstruction of the Data
Àcquisition Buildtng it¡ on schedule .at fandenbe rg
.å,ir Fo¡ce .Baee wlth cornpletion of various facil-
itieg echeduled on an inc remental. basls frorn
Gctobêr to Decerrber, 1959. ThiE'fãcility rüiU be
u¡ed to provide the ¡eadout fu:rction r¡ntil tlre three
operational stãtions are cornpl.ete.

IÀIINCI{ F-
Launch pad to Congtructlon of the SAMOS lau¡ch pad at Point
be completed in Arguello, California, will be completed iõSEp-
Se pte rnbe r . tember 1959.

t2
s-Ece#F
 =stcR[+æ
Figure 3 - Mockup of sAMos (E-2)
Visua.I Reconnaissa¡ce
Package .

..'.

rrìf ;'riÀe,¡f rrÆ.--¡

ffiw#
!1î: ,AXLAL 5UPPôRT Rtñc F-
t-'.
lÈ

-SËGRE[.-
 s:ereæffi*
MIDAS PROJECT
(YERY EARLY VTARNING SATELLiTE)

INTRODUCTION

MIDAS wiII provid.e Phase I, and a rnore ãdv-ancecl Phase lI series

early warning of of fl.ights expected to follow it, are aimed toward
Ba 1'l i stic Missile establishing ¿ reliable operational satellite -borne
atta.ck. rnissile -alarrn capability ín t'ne 1962 tirne period,
-The MIDAS (Missíle Defense Alarrn Satellite) Pro-
ject, r¡rhen operational, will place a deries of
satellites around the earth in polar orbits. These
will carry payloads consisting of infra-red de-
tection scanners capable of keeping watch over
Iarge areas of tJre uppe r atrnosphere. lnfra-red
ernanations frorn ballistic rnissiles being launched
will be detected as the rnissiles rise above the
atrno sphere, arrd the alarrn so given will be trans-
rnitted instantaûeoÌrsly to far north readout sta-
tions on the grou::d. \4larning will then be relayed
ilirectly tn th.e Zon;e of Interior intelligence and
operations centers, províding rnaxirmrrn alert
tirne for retaliatory force s,

FLIGHT SCÉÎEDUT,FT

First flight sched- The MIDAS Phase I prograrn involves four ATLAS
uled for January 1960, boosted, low-latitude, low-altitude (300 to 700
rnile ) flights frorn the Atlantic Missile Range (AMR).
ÌIardware will be available in tirne to rne et the
orlginally scheduled Novernber 1959 flight date.
'lloweve
r, lirnite d lau:rching facilities to accom-
rrrodate both MER CURY and MIDAS at AMR, to-
gether with delays encormtered in tåe ATLÁ,S D
prograrn, indic¿te that January 1960 is the earliest ,...-
date for the fiTst MIDAS launch" ìir +

MrpAs coMP, oNEìrT sIÁ,rus

GENEBJ,L
f irst MIDÀS a spe cts of the MIDAS satellite vehicle r.emain
.A'J.J.
¡atellite shipped on scheduLe. The first MIDÂS satellite was shipped
to Modification frorn Sumyvalë to the Modification and Checkout
Center. Center at Palo i{Ito on Jule 25.

I3
 SJHÆ"Rffi-*"
PROPULSION

of
Developrne nt A sirnulated altitude testing prograrn with a
restart engine rnodified Bell XLR81-Ba-5 rocket engine was
initiãted. succes sfulLy completed in April 1959 . (See
AGENÀ rnodification, under Project TRIBE. )
.A.uthorization was then given to proceed w ith the
design and developrnent of a restart engine"
Thi s capabilíty fnu6t be provided to rne et the
high altitude orbita^I r equirernent of the MIDAS
systern.

INT'R..q,- RED SCANNERS l ""-

The first flyable The first flyable inJra-red scarrner for use in the
infra-red under- first Phase I flight, shorxm in Figure 4, was
going te st.. delivered early in June. The unit is undergoing
tests at Lockheed prior to being installed in the
satellite. A test to check for possible pick-up
of S-band beacon signal by the scanner r:lit was
succes sfully cornpleted.

TRACKING AND R.EADOUT T'ACILITIES

PHASE I FLIGHT
Facilities for Irritial Phase I flights will use the following
Phase I include facilitie s:
AMR, Palo A.lto,
PMR and Hawaii. 1¡ Atlantic Missile Range - Launch and readout
of data from satellite in orbit,
Z. -AMR Down-Rarge Statíons - Tracking during
ascent and through orbit injection; readout
.. .;.. of exit telernetry data.

3. Developrnent Control Center (Falo .ALto/Sr:¡rny-

vale) - Operations control; grould presen-
tation in real tirne and analysis of infra-red
data.

4. Vandenber g Air Force Base - Trlacking;

ground pre sentation of infra-red data ín real
tirne, satellite interim tirne r comrnald, infra-
red scanner c ornrnand.

S-ECiRfr"P*
74

ti
é*à
 S.ECMffi
5. Kaena Point, ÏIawaii - Tracking; inf¡a-red
data readout, satellite i¡rterirn tirner comrnand,
inJra-red Ecãnner cornm¿nd,

Targets, launched from ÀMR, IÃrhite Sands Proving

Ground, Point Mugu and Vandenberg Air Force
Base, will be observed. by the orbiting sâtellites.
ADDIT]ONAL READOUT SITES

Chu¡ chill and Chur chill and F¡bbisher, Canada, are being studied rt :.j-:
t'robisher, Canada, as possible sites for a readout station between ¡-- --
being considered for those in the North Pacific and the United I{ingdorn,
Northea st Atlantic
readout site s.

Donlelly Flats, Donnelly Flats, Âlaska, was selected as the site

Alaska, selected as of the North Pacific readout station. Design of
North Pacific readout this facility has been cornpleted and construction
5ite. wilt be started during JuIy with an expected
oc clrpancy date of Jr.:¡re 19 60 .

United Kingdorn site Site selection for the East Atlantic station has
selection initiated. been initiated, and it is aoticipated that siting
tearns v¡iIl visit potential areas in the United King-
dorn dr:ring July.

l. :'riù.

l5
SÆr€RG'f:'
 Infra- red Scaflner for
first MÐAS .

'i, .l.. . ,t,,tli ..

fl

L*.:,-
1.,.r-

Jt0s*d
 s#.eR.EIr
PROJECT TIROS
(METEOROLOGICAL S¿.TELLITE)

TIROS Project Project TIROS' the meteorological satellite

transferred to prÕgratn, was transferred to NASA early in
NASA,{pril 13,1959. the report period; tJrerefore, no specific progress
can be included in this report.

Departrnent of Because of the potential rnilitary application of

Defense participation inforrnation to be obtained frorn this prograrn,
will continue on a however, Departrnent of Defense participation
lirnited basis. wiLl continue. This particiPation will be rnanife st
. in two different ways: (1) rne rnber ship on a joint
Departrnent of Defense - NÀSA advísory group; ahd
(2) continuation of work initiated in Septernber 1959
regardrng data reductíon, processing and analysis.
Techn-iquesfo¡ full rnilitary utilization and dis-
sernination of weather data received from satellites
will be deweloped u¡rder this prograffr.
 S'E@Ëtr*
PROJTCT,TRÀNSIT
(ÞTAVIGA,TION SAT EL LITE )

ITITRODUCTION

Obje ctive s Objectives of the Navigation Satellite Project

(TR,{NSIT) are: to prowide a hi gbly accurate
global all weather rneans of fixing precisely (to
.2 nautical rnile) the Position of surface craft,
subrnarile s and aircraft, and for providing rnid-
couïse and te rrnin-al guidance for long-range
rnissiles, as wel'l as providing a rnore accurate I

rneâns of rnar itirne and. aerial navigation than is f'*-"

now available in polar areas. A schematic of the
TRÀNSI T satellite systern il operation is shown
in Figure 5.
,ds signrnent of Responsibility for the navigation satellite paytoad
responsibility: has been assigned to the Bureau of Ordnance,
Bureau of Ordnance Departrnent of the Navy. The responsibility for
for satellite; US.{I' ¡ùacing tbi s sãtellite into oïbit has been assigned
for laulching. to the Ballistic Missile Division, Àir Force.

NA.VIGÂTION SATEILITE T'LIGTÍTS

Fi¡St laurch in The fiïst nawigation såtellite is now scheduled to

Septernber. be launched in rnid- Septernber at Cape Canaweral,
Larmching will be by a THOR-Delta vehicLe.
ÀdditionaL launchings are planned in I.iscal Year:
1969 and Fiscal Yea¡ 196I to rno re fully develop
and utilize the satellite navigation tecbnique s,

Objectives of first Objectives of TRANSIT I arel to deterrnine and to

navigation .satellite. corÍrect for refr.active errors of signals passing r. -:^

tJrrough tl.e ionsph.ere, to initiate geodetic rneas - !*r

I 'l{
uïerrÌerits and analysis, to dernonstrate navigation
prl-ïposes, feasibility of Doppler techniques for
precision, and to perforrn an i¡rfra-red scanrrer
e).Fe ïirne nt in support of t]le MIDAS project.

S.A.TELT.ITE DESIGN ÀND FABRT CATTON

Developrne nt and Development and clesign of the antenla, tlan-s-

de sign work corn- mitter s, telernetering, power supplie s and
pleted. structuïe has beer comPleted during the report
,dflt;\
i-i d
\.-/
 Se€WIr
period. Construction of tÏe payload for TR A'NSIT
I is cornpleted and final testing is unde r way. Ä
cutaway of the TR.ÃNSIT I satellite may be seen
in Figure 6.

TESTING

I-aurrching vehicle The launching vehicle, the launch trajectory, the

enroute to Cape technical test objectives and the operation plan
Canaveral. are enroute to the Test Director at Cape Canaveral.
The test or garization has cornpleted theír initial
ilspection for c ornpatability at the CaPe.
P.

Vacuurn charnbe r A test charnber capable of sirnuJ.ating the vacuun,

in service. solar ¡'gdiation, and ternperature extrerne s of
outer space has been constructed and is beíng
ernployed for vigorous testing of the cornplete
satellite. A cornplete satellite has suc ces sfu1J.y
rnet the launch acceleiatiod requirernents in the
giant centrifuge of the Naval 1'eapons Pl.ant,

Vib¡ation te sti¡g The electronics equiprnent and structures were

i.u progre s s. tested u¡rder the conditions of v-ibraiion expected
during launching. The satellite now rneets all the
environrnental requirernents which have been
specified by the agencies concerned. StabiLization
of the third stage of the launchilg vehicle is accorn-
plished by spinning the rocket and satellite. This
spinning, if not stopped after the satellite goes into
orbit, would adver sely âffect irrierpretation of the
satellite signals. -A ¡ne ch¿nisrn for r¡de-sPintr of
the satellite has been tested successfully.

MÀÏHEMA'TI CAL AND' MACHINE,CO:MPUTÀTTONS

New satellite corn- The analytical and rnachine corrputation effort bas
puting proces s resulted in developrnent of a. satellite trackìng
developed. cornputâtional process vhich is econornical in
rnachine c ornputat ional r equirernents, .A' rnathe -
rnatical procesË has been developed for tracking
¡efractive in.dex of the iono sphere as it affects the
signal. Cornputational procedures have been pre-
pared for the navigation experirnents and geodetic
deterrninations to be perforrned on the signalg frorn
the satellite .
 s-E,cR#+
FACILITIES AND SITES

Fixed ground sta- trtixed ground stations for precise tracking of

tions e stablished. the sateLlite have been established at the
University of Texas, .{ustin, at the New Mexico
State University, Los Cruces, .and at tbe Applied
Ph¡rsics Laboratory, Howard County, Maryland.

Mobile stations Two rnobile stationis are nearing cornpletion.

nearing cornpletion. Arrangernents are being rnade to oPerate orì.e at
the Univeïsity of llVashington in Seattle and the
other ãt the U. S, Naval Station at Argentia, Ne\r-
foundland. Checkout of these stations and of the
three fixed stations as a cornbined systern should
be accornplí shed.by Septernber I, 1959. The Air
Force Carnbridge Research Center will furnish
optical tracking inJormation for purposes of
cornparison with the radio range tectrniques being
developed.

i9
-S*EG{&E*ðI
 CONTIDENTIAI
Proiect TRANSIÏ
ME 12

5A t¡¿¿rr,
--.--_ ' - OpSr
- t
sAlÉjP =._\_ t3

NEW ORBIf AI
PARAMETERS

0
Sa . DOPPLER SlGNAtS
IRACKING SlATI ON TIME . OREIIAL PARAMEIERS
CORRECIION . TIME
o Roae¡vcr r Records ' &
Oi g¡to,l:ilzãr OoPPle¡

/ stsnol''

DOPPTER DATA

COMPUTER

ú**,
\ PARAME¡ERS

"orr\r,"o
.r*rF INJECTION SIA¡I ON
. orro cli DoPPlor Doro
C
. Êroses 5o lelli le MêmorY
for lono¡Phor¡c Refrocl¡on
¡ Col<u lole¡ Fulure . lronsÌn¡ts New Orb¡tol
P o ro mel€ rs & f ¡mc
Cotrèclion

->\
Ã-\ F.IGURE 5. SCHEAAÎIC SYSTEâ'T OPERAÏION
\

;;.';
 Project TRANSIT coNFrDENrAt

D¡ometer-3ó inches Orbir-4OO nsulicol miles(clrculorl

We¡ghr-27o pounds ¡ncl¡not¡on-5O degrees
lounching Veh icl e:Th or-Able
HANDTING RING
LAUNCHING SUPPONT ANTENNA

IIECHAN¡CAt TIMER
ANÌENNA COUPI.¡NG
INSUIATION NEIWORK

RADIATION SHIEID
NFRARED SCANN ER
commAND
RECEIVER
oSclil.AToR
sotAn cE tt sttvER-zlNC
BANK\ (tR- t00l
BATTERIES
TETCIIETER
NICKEL-CADMIUM sorAR CEtt
BATTERIES BANK

N¡CKEt-CADMIUII E-SP¡N WEIGHT

BAITERIES FON SOIAN
POWEN SYSTEM
-SPIN CABTE
NYTOT{ TACING

OUÍER AND INN

LACING RING IEi-SPIN WEIGHÏ
sttvER-Z¡NC RIEI.E AS E CABTE
(rt- r ool TRANSIIIITTEN rÈ[EfiIETER
BATTERIES
APt t 09ó
::S'gi"''n' rrAv I SATELLITE CUTAWAY llIElt Rev Jul 1959
I.IGURE ó.
 se@ffisF
PROJECT NOTUS
( coMMUNlcATroN s¡{TELLITES)
INTRODUCTION

Sâtellite s to be The objective of the Cornrnu¡ri cation Satellite

used for receivilg Project (NOTUS) is the developrnent of a coÍlrn-
and retr ansrrritting urrication gysteln .uttJ.izing satellites to provide
Íìes sages. Iong range radio cornrnulicatíon links' The
satãUite c om¡nuni cation systern is expected to
relieve the load on the presently overcrowded
trunking facilities arrd to irnProve reliability of
global comrnunication. A series of cornrmrnication
iatellites, properly sPaced in orbit, could carry
both thê rnilitary logistics and the adrninistrative
cornrnr:ni cation traffic load.

DTI,.AE.ED REPE*{TEE

COURIT'R - DeIaYed The initial phase of the project is the developrnent

Repeate l Satellite. of a prototlrlle of al operational delayed repeater
sãtellite (de signated COIIRIER) re ceiving rne s -
sãges over one point on tJre globe and retrans-
rnitting thern over a¡.other. This concePt ïvas
suc ce s sfully tested under project SCORE in
Decernber 19 58.

Initial flight ?he initial laurrch of repeater

a. COURIER dal'ayed
schedule. satellite is scheduled at the AMR in February
1960 using a THOR booster and an 'A'J I0-104 upper
stage, Later firings will substitute 'A'T L,{S for
THOR.

.A.ssignrnent of The ,{rrny Signa1 Corps has been assigned rêsPon-

re sponisibility. sibitity for the developrnent of the COURIER
payload. Requir.e d booster developrnent is under
ihe cognizance of tåe Baltistic Missrle Division,
-{ir Force.
I}I S TA-\T T-LNE O T-IS R.T PEA TE R

The second major division of the project, the

instantaneous ïePeater satellite, is divided into
three phases:
Æt"'--\
sæ.éhffi ti
 s.E@Ë'tr
STTER - Strategic (1) Initially, the design, developrnent and fabri-
Polar Com¡nunications cation of four (4) instantaneous cornrm:nicãtions
Satellite. satellites into polar orbit to obtãin two-way
com¡mr¡rications, via the satellite, between
gror:rd stations in the United States and SdC
aircraft fl.ying in the polar regions is planned,
These firílgs are schedul-ed for lâte 1960.
This sub-project has been assigned the code
¡¡a;rne ST.EER.

T.{CKLT - Advanced (2) Second.ly, the developrnent and laulching of

Polar Corn¡nunic ati on g four (4) adva.nced polar cornrnunications satel-
Sa;telIite. lites to test satellite station-keeping capabilities,
refined attitude contïol and rnicrowave coln-
rnunication cornponents as a prelirninary to the
global c ornrnunications satellite prograrn is
proposed, These firings are scheduled for the
Iast half of 196I and early 1962. The code narne
TACKLE has been assigned this sub-project.

DECREE - Global {3) Final.ty, the developrnent and latmching of

Cornrnunicãtions.. SateL - seven (7) satellites ilto Z4-hour equatorial
Iite for Instantaneous orbit to obtain broad-band, point-to-point
Message Relay. com¡nu¡rication and, additionally, ground-to -
aircraft co¡nrnu¡rication i s conte rnplated.
These launches wilL cornnence in the early
part of for approxirnately
L96Z and continue
one year.
The code narne of this sub-project
is DECREE.
*A,s eignrnent of The Ba1listic Missile Division, ,{ir tr"orce, has
re spons ibiliti e s. been assigned the ôver-aLl technical rnana gernent
responsibility for tÏe project, General respon-
sibility for the corrìrnunications equiprnent has been
¿ssigned to tJle r{rrny Signal Corps. }Iowever,
Wright Air Developrnent Çenter will develop the
com¡nuni cations sub- systern for STE.ER and the
aircralt corrrrnunications for T.{CLLE and DE CREE.
¡,RP-{' will provide policy and technical guidance
and retain approval authority for certaín sched-
uling decisions.

z7

".-S:iE@&lË4F
 sffi+1r
SATELLTT,E PAC4ACE p.EVqLOPMEI\i-r

Contract awarded A contract was awarded on June 25' 1959 for four
for the COUB,IER. experimental, four ptelirninary developrneint ând
satellite package. four final developrnent rnodels of the COURLEB
com¡nunicationÊ satellite. Deliveries ar.e sched.-
ufêd to begir in De cernb,er 1959 and continue to
Decernber 19 6I.

I.]ICILITIES .AND SITES

COURTER PROJECT

Contr.actõ awarded .{ contract was awarded. June 30, 1959 for develop-
for COURLEB' rnenf, fabrication and installatiorr of three
grould cornplex developrnent rnodel gr'ould stations to be deliwered
.and for ground i:r tr'ebrr:ary 1960, one to each of the sites in
antenr¡^as. Puetto Rico, Hawaii and Spai-n. One developrnent
. rnodel satellite checkout facility will be built and
delivered to CaPè Canaveral at t}le sarne tirne.

A corrtr¿ct was awa¡ded on JU¡le 1I, 19 5 9 for

developrne nt, fab¡ication and ínstallation of the
groúad based tr.acking anteraa. systern. Three
developrnent rnoilels will be ilelivered' one to
'each oI the sites at llawaii, Puerto Rico and
$Pain bY tr'ebruary 1960.

)2

s#€'RÊæ
 se€ß4Ê#r
PROJECT SHEPHERD
(ÍRj.clüNG NETWORK)
INTRODUCTION

Objective The objective of Project SHEPHERD is the estab-

Lishment of an effective satellite detection fence
to detect, identify and predict orbits of non-
radiating objects in space. To accornplish this
objective a fence has been constructed, consisting
of integrated MINITR.&CK and DOPLOC satellite
tracking systerns¡ Adóitionally, Froject SHEPHERD
cal1s for tJre developrnent of a world-wide tracking
network in cooperation with N,A'SA.

MINITRÀCK In Jr:ne 1958, .{.R.PÁ directed the Naval Research

systern rnodified I-raboratory to rnodify and extend the original ÏGY
and expanded. MINITR.A.CI{. systern for its new role of tracking
non- radiating s atellite s.

DOPLOC to corn- To cornplernent the MINITRÀCK Systern' as an

plernent MINIÍR¿,CK inte rirn rrreasure' tJ..e Bal1i stic Research Lab-
Dete ction Systern. oratory was requested in ilune 1958 to Ploceed
with the e stabli strrnent of a doppler systern corn-
p1ex, known as DOPLO C. The cornbiled MINI-
TRACK-DOPLOC fence consisting of an eastern,
central and western cornpLex becarne operational
ie I.ebruary 1959. Eãch cornplex ernploys one
trãrlsmitter and two r.eceiver stations. A tele-
type network cor:mecting the Naval Research
L:rboratory ãt Dahlgxen, Virginia' with the
MINIT RÀ CK stations has been established and
is in operation.
r"
Teletype c omrnun- Sirnilarly, u¡rde r the DOPLOC systern, teletype
ication to corrrputing comrnulication and data transrnission facilities
center. will be used. DoPPler frequency da.ta is cur-
.rently tran s rnitte il over a teletype circuit to the
Balli stic Bêsearch Laboratories Cornputing
Center at Àberdeen Froving Ground, Maryland.
Data froÍn the other three channels are stored
in digital forrn on rnagnetic taPe and are later
transrnitted to tJre cornputing center in seguence
,<qÀ
z3
SB€,R&II F]".à
\q--l
 s{B@fiË#'
Data integration. The corn¡nunication circuits wilt tie all stations
together and to the MINITRA.CK c ornrnu¡ric ations
network. Data.transmission circr:-its:will link
the t\tro receiving. stations with the cornputing
center at Ballistic Research Laboratories.
Provisions will be rnade for transrnitting corn-
puter orbital datã to a Natiorral Space Surveillance
Center when cornpleted.

NSSCC to integrate In Decernber 1958 the Air Research and Develop-

data cornpilation rne nt Cornrnand was assigned the re sponsibility
frorn detection fo'r the development of a permanent National
sy6tern. Space Sr:r ve illanc e Control Center to receive,
cornpile, and catalogue the orbítal data gathered
on these inter-related systerns. The des.ign
pararneteïs for this station are to be d.elivered
by July 1, 1960"
'W
orId-wide track- In cooperation with NASA. initial stePs have been
ing systern to be taken toward the development of a world-wide
coope ratively devel- trãcking systern involving the construction of two
oped with NASA. Departrrrent of Defense facilities, one in Spain
and one in Japan or the Philippines. Responsibility
for planning, conotructing, and equipping these
stations was as signed to the J.rmy Signal Corps
in Janr:ary 19 59.
CURRENT STATiIL
__
Tracking of DIS- In .A'pr pass of DISCOVERER Il coming
il the first
COVERER. II and within the antenna bearn pattern, revolution.I5,
VÀNGUARD I. was successfully tracked by the DOPLOC systern'
ÞÍINITRA Cl{ detected DISCOVERER II each tirne
it pabsed withín the r.ange of the stations during
thê period of its life. On May 15 the first
observation of VANGUA,RD I was made at the
tr'o rt Stewart station at the predicted height of
450 statute rníles. Cornpleted. instaflation of
autornatic lock-on equiprnent at the DOPLOC
receiving statiorrg in June peïrnitted detection of
signals frorn both satelliie and rneteors which
were previously not detectable because they were
below audible dete ction lirnits.

24
S.EG-R*M
 SJËffi
FACILITIES A.ND SITES

Space surveillance The MINITRACK Space Surveillance Operations

Cente¡ at Dahlgren, Virginia, began firnctioning
on a 24-hour continuous operating basis on
Jvne 2, L959. Structural steeL is being erected
for the Space Track Building at the ,A'ir Force
Carnbridge Research Cente¡, which will provide
the nucleus for the Interirn National Space Sur-
veillance Center. Effort has also been extended
to assure operational installation of an IBM 709
cornputeï for the. Space Track Building by the
beneficial occupancy date in. SePternber 1959.

Work initiated on A letter contïact to provide tåe necessary equip-

world-wide. track- rne nt for the two world-wide tracking stations
ing stations. has been signed and work.has begun. Ilowever,
no defilitized contract has been successfully
negotíated within funding lirnitations.

z5
"S¡E"G|.M#"
 SJE@W
PROJECT LONGSIGHT
( ÉEASIBILIT Y S T UDIES AND E XPLORÁ.TORY RESE4,R CH)

Objective The objective of the program is to find and

rernedy serious short and long-terrn gaps in
study and research relating to foreseen rnilitary
needs in 6pace technology"

Areas of work The scope of the current prograrn is defined by

ínclude power sup- the technical areas selected for attention and by
ply, propulsion, the dollar s cornrnitted to these. The five areas
materials and elec - cornprising the current Þrogïarn are as follows:
tronic s. i

1. Space Power Supply Research"

2, Space Pr opulsion Resea¡ch.

3. Research on Materials, Structures and

Phenomena in and for Space Environment.

4, Space Electronics, Guidance and Control.

5. Space Systerns Studie s,

65 Contracts The current pïogram consísts of a total of 65

r:lder way, individual research projects: now assigned in a
þroad range of subjects, such as ion engines,
pla sma electronics, therrnionic conversion,
investigation of friction of rnoving parts in a
space environrnent, super conductivity, and etc.
Most of these are of one-year duratíon and,
depending on results, rnay be continued for
another year or rnore. Since projects in these I 4t'
areas have been under way only a relatively short
tirne, specific resuLts are not yet available.
 s.Bce#-jr
PROJECT TRÏBE
(VEI{ICLE DEVEIOPMENT .ÀND MODIFICA.TTON)

PROJECT SA'TURN - CLUSTERED ENGINE

INTRQDUCTION

S,{TURN to fill earlY The SÀTUR}û project evolved as the earlie st

¡.eed for o rbiting possible solution to th.e urgent need for keeping
large payloads. pac.e w itl: requirernents to boost large payloads
into orbit. On August 15, 1958, ARP.A' approved
an Arrny Ordnance Missil.e Comrnand proposal
for providing a.space vehicle booster capable of
gene.ratilg approxirnately one and one-half rnil-
lion pounds tårust.

Booster conta:ins The. S.A.TURN booster consists of three m¿in

eíght. Ro cketdlme sectionsi the tail section, the container section,
H-l tngine s. a.rld the upper stage adaption section, The con-
tai:rer seclion is ¡nade up of one JUPITER-type
tãnk (105 i:rches díarnete r) for LOX and eight
REDSTONE-type tanks (?0 inches d.iarneter), four
for LOX and four for fuel, surrounding it. The
tail section con.taj.ns eight Rocketdyne H-l eng-
ines (four rnounted ir,.; an inner circle and four
rnounted in an outer circle).

TITAN approach, -- The URlt{ second stage ¡¡vill be constructed

S.AT
second stage, frorn cornponen-ts of the TITAN first stage, rnodj.-
CtN TAUR as third 'fied as ûecessary for SAT'URÌ,ì application. The
stage. CENT.A,UR was selecied for adapiation. as a
. SAT URN third stage.

Project as signrnent On Decernber 11, 1958, ARP,A. requested that AOMC:

for SAT URN te st (a) accornplish ttre design, constr:uctíon, and rnodi-
a¡rd launch f¿-cilitie s. fication of the ÀBMA captive iest to¡Èer and as-
sociãted fac jLities required in. SAT TIRN booster
. devèloprnent; and (b) deterrnine design criteria

for SA'I URN Iar:¡rch facilities to be located at

the Atlantic Missil,e Range.
 SJBffiffi
cgEE4Nr qr4!gÞ
YEHrc.IiE Gurq4Nçqéryq coN!4ç¡!
JUFITER-type The contro:L systern adopted for tl¿e initial
control systern SAT IIRN vehicles is sirnilar io the JUPITER.
adopted. systern, This sirnil¿Lrity includes use of a
rnódiJied ST - 90 stabilize d platform cor,vêrted
digital cornpute r output, a repackaged control
cornPuter and hydrauJ.ic contro1 actua¿ors.

I"irst control corn- DeÞign of the S,{'I URN control cornpuier, which
puter available. by issues swivel actuator c orn¡na¡.ds to ¿rll four
rnid-$epternber. control engines, is progressing satisfactorily'
The first unit wil-l be available for laboratory
. tests by Septernbex 15, 1959,

Effect of engine Thé effect of.failure of one of the eight engines

failure being of the. S,tT URN booster .on the reqr:-ired t::irn
studied. angles for the r:ernaining coDtrol engineg ãnd on
'evêïrtuãl requirernents fo¡ alternate tilt pro-
grarns and guidance program.s is being studied"

STRUCTURES

tr'ul1 scale rnock- tr"abrication of a fuÌl scale rno cku.p of a SATURN

up of SATURN tail booster tail section has been cornpleted. {See
section cornpleted. Figure 7) This rnockup is used for accessibility
:investigation and dete¡:rnination of optirnurn lay-
out for the power plant areas.

Major structural A1I major structural drawings for the SATURN

drawings for test vehicle were released during the rePolt
såTuRNstatictestperiod.Thesecondstageadapterdesignfor
vehicle released. rnounting the TIT.&N-type second stage is being I

. considered; howeve::, ¡o final deci.sion can be

rnade rmtil the second.- stage vehicle ign.ition tirne
and characteristics havè been deterrningd.

PROPU]-STON

Two 5ÃT URN lI-] Thé,'first H-l production engile was deIíve4çd
engines being hot to A-BM,A. on schedul.e APril 28, 1959, (See
fired at AB M.4.. .,. Figure 8) The second was delivered on June 8,
.

Áf'.õ,Àr-\
l:
28 tÈ.J
"sÆ@e-EÆ q=/
 SreM:tr
7959. These production engines are bèing hot
fired at ABMA to calibrate the engine systern
in a flight configuration.

Optirnurn proPeII - .{ study was initiated to deterrnine the optirnum

ant loading for propellant loading for the different sLages of
S-rLT II&N stages SATURN based on the rnaxirnurn payload capa-
being. studied. bility for two basic rnissions, the 24-hour orbit
and the 96 -rninuté orbit.

TEST PROGRÀM

Test schedule The current SATURN test schedule provides for

one dynarnic captive tesü derrÌonstration ât ABMA
in December 1959 and four flight test vehicles
(SA-1, SA-2, SA-3 and S.A-4).

Firs t H-l engine The first 25-second firing on H-l engine, H-1001,
succes efully Static was successfully cornpl.eted on May 26, 1959.
tested at ABMA. ALl test objectives were accornplished. This eng-
ine was checked out , inst¿lled at ABMA Power
Plant Test Stand, and instrurnented within three
.weeks after receipt fro,n Rocketd)me. I'ive tests
have been. successfully rnade on engíne H-100I
for a total duration of 562 seconds, m;ainstage.
All tests ran the intended dur¿tion without rnal-
fr:¡r ction,

I"ir s t tests on jlwo tests weïe successfully cornpleted on the

H-100 2. second H-1 engine for a total duration of 180
opera.tion. Two additional
second.s of rnainstage
engines were successfully tested at Rocketdyne
during this period.

BOOSTER RECOVERY PROGRAM

Recovery s cherne Concurrently with.SATURN boostev design, the

for flight test scherne for booster recoveïy is beiIrg detailed.
boosters being Parachutes will be deployed after re*errtry to
detailed. retard the booster velocity. Retro rockets will .

decrease the final tguchdown velocity to a rnini-

rnurn of r,ear zero. :

20

SE"M
 "SffiRffi
¡.ACIIITIES AND SITES
CAPT.IVE TEST FACTLITIES

Captíve te st tower Modification of the CaÞtive Test Tower at .{BMÀ

rnodifications for the SATURN prograrrr continued on schedule.
on schedule. (See Figure 9)

Fabricatíon and as sernbly of the SAT URN rrìa ster

facility panel in the ABM,A' blockhouse is on
schedule ,

I,AUNCH FACILITIES

Lar.¡nch cornplex Construction of the SATURN bLockhouse at AMR

at ,A-MR inítiated. was initiated on Jr¡ne 3, 1959.

CENTá.I]R - HIGH EN,ERGY UPPE.R STAGE

INTRODUCTION

Objectives The CENTÀUR is.á liquid-hydrogen oxygen upPer

stage vehicle whích will initially be used with
the llT LÀS boo ster to provide a vehicle with the
capability of placing approxirnately 1,500 pounds
în a ? -lnotr orbit. Specific objeclives of this
prograrn, as initiated and developed by ARPA'
--are placing in orbit ti.:,e Z4-}:rowx equatorial orbit
cornrnunications s ãtellite s (Pro je ct DE CREE )
'and for use as the third stage of t}le SATURN
vehicle.

Assignrnent of Responsibility for the C-ENTÁ,UR project was '- -

re sponsibility. assigned to the Á,ir Force in August 1Ç58. l-

Delivery s chedule, The first two CENTAUR boosters are scheduled

for delivery in lvfay 1960. Additionally, fourteen
engile s are scheduled for delivery by October 1p60.
CURRENT STATUS
FABRICATION .{ND ASSEMBLY
Flight weight thrust Allphases of the CENTAUR prograrn are pro-
charnbers fired. gressing satisfactorily. Durüng the report period
30
.-"slËcJRÆ#
 .Sffiffi
ftight weight thrust charnbers were fired to design
charnber pressure. Ignition and cornbustion were
srnooth¡ however, subsequent inspections dis-
closed a nurnbe r of ruptured tubes. Investigations
aae undelway to determíae the cause.

As sernìly of first Assernbly of the fiïst Fratt l{hitney engine is

cornPlete engine nearilg cornpletíon and the first- ru¡r date is
nearilg cornpletion, scheduled for July 19 59.

FA.CILITTES
f.
i

Statlc têst stãnd .A. decision on location of a static test stand for
I

location rürd€ter - CENTAUB. Project is expected ir July. NASA

rninéd" has officially requested perrnission to locate tåe
stan:d at Sycarnore Canyon, California.

PROJECT TR-&NSFER

Proj ect to be trans - In accordãnce with a:rrangernent rna de ea.rly this

ferred to NASA on y.ea.r, yna'îagernent of the CEN TÀUR Project will
JuIy 1, 1959. be transferred frorn the DeÞattrnent of Defense
to'the Natioßal Aeronautics and. Space Adrninis-
tration effective Jufy 1, 1959.

UPPER STAGE MODIT"ICATION

Developrnent of The .dJ 10-104 is e ssentially a rnodification and

ÀJ r0 -I04. sirnptification of the V.\NGUARD second stage
with tank capacity for approxirnately twice as
rnuch propellãnt. Design has been cornpleted and
the vehicle parùiaIly fa.bricated. The A'T 10 -104
s'tage is plan:red ¿s the upper stage for use with a
THOR booster to place in orbit the first early
resêarch ¿nd developrnent versions of ùbe co.rn¡n-
uraicãtiora ïe1ay satellite ( CO URIER) and th.e
navigation sètellite (TRÄI\SiT ).

Modification of .A'GEI\Ä, (the lockheed second stage, powered with

the AGENA vehicle. a- BeJJ engine, forrnerly called the Hustler stage)
is being rnodified to provide ,greatly irnProved high
altitude capability for a mrrnber of rnilitary satellite

31
S#€Rffi
 SE.c&ffi
rni6 sions, Design objectives include dual burn,
airfrarne and guidance s irnplification, .and
increase of tanJ<age. One of the early rnissions
of the å,GENA dual burn booster is to provide
thê upper stage for placing the navigation satel-
lite payload in a polar orbit. It was recently
agreed that the optirnurn tank size for use in the
AGENÀ vehicles should be twice the developrnent
size.

IARGI. TT{RIÍST TEST' STå}TD

Prelirninar y plans ìÃro¡k. has been initiated on.a large thrust test
es sentially corn- s.tand ã.t Edwards Air Force Base and progïess
plete. is on schedule. This sta¡rd is to be used in
support of the NASA prograrn for developrnent
of a single charnber L. 5 rnillion pound thrust
englne. At tåe close of the quarter prelirninary
pla:ns aie es s,entíaIly cornplete, The contxact
for excavation work is s cheduLed to be l.et in
July 1959,

3Z
S @R-EET
FIG. ? FI'LL-SCAIE MOCKUP OF SATURN TAIL AREA .SECREÍ
 FIG. 8 SINGLE H-1 (H-1001) ENGINE ON A3M'A
POWER PLANT TEST STAND PRIOR
TO ONE
OF FIVE SUCCESSFT]L STATIC FIRINGS'
_rI
,Ii
¡I i
f
SÀTURN TEST POSITION BUILD-UP
ON TI{E ASMA STATIC TEST TOWER
MOVES ON SCHEDiJLE (MEN ON
STRUCTURE SHOIJ RELATIVE SCÁIE)

. . ,....,,::l:,,

,...'-'.-.'...',:...]
 W.ç"wæ¡r*
STATUS OF FT'NDS

(In Millions)

Pro gramrned rf
t9s9 corn- ¡.Y 1959 FY 1959
FY 1959 & rnitrnent s (AR.PA Obligations Expenditures
Príor Years Order s Is sued) As Of As Of
Project Projects Jr:ne 30, IÇ 5Ç Mly 31'1959 Ma.¡l 3I,I959
DISCOVEREÃ' $ 136. 5.u $ 136.5 $101.8 $ 61.0

SENTB,Y 105. 6 J1 105.6 90.9 65"2

MIDAS .
zz. e ll 22.8 73.6 8. Z

Meteorological
SateIlite LZ.8 72.8 7.4 5.0

Navìgation SateIIite 10.7 10. 7 3.0 "4

Corn¡nunications'
- Satellite 16.7 76. 7 7) 1"0

Tracking 31.9 27"6 zz. o l. o

Feas ibílity Studies 11. 5 10. 5 11. 3 6.7

Vehicle Developrnent
a¡rd Modification

C1uste red Engine 34.0 34. O 19' I 6.5

CENTAI]R zt. 5 zr.5 15.8 b.5

UPPer Stage
Modi{ication 2.6 2.6 .5 .1

Large Thrust
Te st Stand .7 .t .z
-
rorAI, $491..4 y $ *r" $ *r= $ 168.2

U $g+.t pr o grarnrne d during Fiscal Year 1958 and prior years for 1¡/S Il?L
Prograrn. DISCOYERER, SENT RY and MIDAS projects are an outgrowth
of \ü'S 117 L.
é'\
33Ëd
Sۮ'ffi &.-q
 DOD SÀTELLITE LAUNCH SCHEDULE

I I 1

1959 19 60 1961
I¡aunch Quarters Qua'rters Quarter s
rarn Vehicle Site lz34 tz34 rz34
I. DISCOVERER Thor -Agena PMR 2345 4542

2, Reconnais sance (SAMOS) Atl.rs -Agena PMR zz2 zzrz

3, Cornmunications (NOTUS)
a. Delayed Repe¿iter (COURIER) Thor -Agena A.MR 1I 11
b. SAC Polar (STEER) Atlas -Agena PMR 11 )
c. Adv. Polar.(TACKT.E) Atlas - Agena PMR 72
+. Navigation (TRANSIT)
Transit I Thor-Delta ! AMR I t
T ransit ll Thor -I0 4 AMR 11
T rans it III PMR ?/
)t
Transit IV PMR

5. Early Warning (MIDAS)

Pha se I Atlas - Agena AMR z r1
Phase Il Atlas -Agena PMR I1

6. SATURN SATURN AMR 3l TE Lq

II Launch scheduled firet quarter 1960 will use Thor-104.
u Payloads plarrned to be lar¡¡rched with sorne other prograrnrned payload.
Static test firing at ABMA.
_11
tl Launch of vehicle witå durnrny upper stage but without payload.
?r-e.*-E_r-
34
 MILITARY SPACE PROJECTS
FLIGHT DATA
DISCOVERER FLIGHTS
DISCOVERER II (1?0-I0I8)
Date Lau¡ched: April 13, 1959
Booster: THOR #170, IRBM
Gross Weight: 114, 566 Ibs,
Pây1oad Weight: 145 Ibs.
Mean Altitude : 313 Statute Mile s
Payload: Mark I biornedical recovery
capsule
Subsysterns: Airframe, PTopulsion,
Auxiliary Power, Guidance
and Biornedical.
DrscovÐRER III (17 4-7020].
Date Launched: June 3, 1959
Booster: THOR #174, IRBM
cross Weight: 114, 388 lbs.
Payload Weight: 195 1bs.
Mean Altitude: 311 Statute Mile s
Payload: Mark I bio¡nedical recovery
capsule.
Subsystems: Airfrarne, PropuJ-sion,
Auxiliáry Power, Guidance
and Biornedical.
DrscovERER rv (17 9 -r0 z3l
Date Launched: Ivne ?5, 1959
Booster: THOR #179, IRBM
Gros s Weight: 114,Z9ZIbs,
Payload Weight: 195 lbs,
Mean Altitude: tó2 Statute Miles
Payload: Mark I biornedical recovery
capsule.
Subsystems: .Airfrarne, Propulsion,
Auxiliary Power, Guidance
and Biornedical.
35
Second Stage: DISCOVERER Vehicle
On-Orbit Weight: 1,634 ]bs,
Propulsion: XLR81- Be - 5 Engine
Fuel: Unsl'rnrnetrical Di-Methyl
Hydrazine /Inhibited Red
Furning Nitric Acid.
Flight Characte¡ i stic s: Ballistic
traj e ctory to orbit.
Second Stage: DISCOVERER Vehicle
on-orbi weight: 1, 6 34 Ibs.
Propulsion: XLR81- Be- 5 Engine
FueI: Uns)'rrlfnetrical, Di-Methyl
Hydra.zine /Inhibited Red
Furning Nitric Acid.
tr.Iight Chara.cter istic s: Ballistic
traj ectory to orbit.
Second Stage: DISCOVERER Vehicle
On-Orbit Weight: 1,797 Lbs.
Propulsion: XLR81- Be - 5 Engine
I'ue1: UrIsyrnrnetrical Di - Methyl
Hydrazine / Inhibited Red
Frrrning Nitric Acid.
tr'Iight Characte r istic s : Ballistic
traj ectory to orbit.