Not to take us off topic, But Francis Gary Powers in his autobiography (Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident ) discusses the earth being pear shaped and seems to imply this fact was know by the U-2 program before the Vanguard flight. It was one of the reasons overflights where so important, all the "targets" where off by at least 20 miles.
Quote from: kevin-rf on 07/17/2018 03:20 pmNot to take us off topic, But Francis Gary Powers in his autobiography (Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident ) discusses the earth being pear shaped and seems to imply this fact was know by the U-2 program before the Vanguard flight. It was one of the reasons overflights where so important, all the "targets" where off by at least 20 miles.That's interesting. I wonder how they determined the abnormal shape before satellites? Was it due to local gravity measurements, or by surveying?
Quote from: Blackstar on 07/17/2018 04:00 pmQuote from: kevin-rf on 07/17/2018 03:20 pmNot to take us off topic, But Francis Gary Powers in his autobiography (Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident ) discusses the earth being pear shaped and seems to imply this fact was know by the U-2 program before the Vanguard flight. It was one of the reasons overflights where so important, all the "targets" where off by at least 20 miles.That's interesting. I wonder how they determined the abnormal shape before satellites? Was it due to local gravity measurements, or by surveying?We are wandering well off topic, but "local gravity" is always normal to the surface for a body in hydrostatic equilibrium.When we now refer to the Earth's shape as an oblate spheroid is that what they meant by "pear shaped"?Is it the "argument of perigee" that changes as the elliptical orbit swings around the Earth? That continuous change in the orbit of Vanguard 2 would have been the clue to the Earth's oblate shape. I bet they had a devil of a time, and quite a bit of fun, discerning one perturbation after another to what was probably a clean, Keplerian elliptical orbit model at launch. That film is terrific. I like how the satellite is attached to the upper stage on the erected rocket by two guys, one of whom is wearing one white glove.Also how Khrushchev derided it for it's small size, but like its American predecessor, Explorer 1,and unlike the Russian Sputnik propaganda devices, it generated real science.
Also how Khrushchev derided it for it's small size, but like its American predecessor, Explorer 1,and unlike the Russian Sputnik propaganda devices, it generated real science.
Quote from: Comga on 07/17/2018 04:12 pmAlso how Khrushchev derided it for it's small size, but like its American predecessor, Explorer 1,and unlike the Russian Sputnik propaganda devices, it generated real science.Explorer 1 delivered real science: the discovery of the van Allen Belts.
If I recall, the original Vanguard 1 was recovered remarkably intact from the pad explosion and is now on display in the NASM(?) Bent antenna, a few scorch marks.