PROJECT 1C073 RECORD CA.'"W 2. LOCATION 12. CONCI_USIONS Wa, Balloon ,Cl., P robobly Balloon cr-Possi:.,ty Balloo n 3. 0..\ ic T IME GROUP TYP E OF 09SE~'IATION 0 Groundqodo r 0 Was A.rc r o f t 'Ground Vi suol 0 Probably Aircraft 0 Ai,. Vi suo I 0 Air- Interc e p t Ro d o r 0 Po ss bl y Ai rcro f t 5. ?HOT OS 6. SOURCC: Was Astronomi col 't'") ~ P robobl y Asfronomi col 0 Pos.sbly Astronomi cal 7. L ENGTH O F OBSC:~VATION HUMBER OF OBJECTS ), :;u ffi c i ent Data fo r E voluollo n 0 Unk no""n BRIEF SUMMARY OF SICHTIHC AT:C ?ORl' 329 (lUtV 2 6 SEP S l ) STATUS REPORTS ON OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS OF SATELLITES 1958 ALPP-~ AND 1958 BETA TabLe of Con s CHAPTER I : PRELI~IIN..l.RY R3SULTS FnOl~ OPTICAL TR.'\CKI1TG OF T:HE U. S. ZA~.TH 5A'3LLITES b y J. Allen Hyn ek and Freo. L . \fuipple .. 1 CHAPTER II~ OPTICAL SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS The Network of Precision Photographic Satellite Tracking Stations -- Moonwatch Observations of Satelli s 1958 Alpna, 1958 Be t a and 1958 Gamma -- CHAPTER I I I : SCIS~niFIC RESULTS CHAPTER IV: The Orbit and Variable Acceleration of Satellite 1958 Alpha -- The Density of the Uppe~ ~tmosphere -- Lif e Expecta~cy of Sat~ llite 1958 Alpha -- USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF SATELLITE PREDICTIONS -- Pragram for D~te~ination of G~ographic Pre d ictions for Crossing s of Given Latitud~ ?a~allela --APO Eph~meris 5 - - Predi ions ~o~ P~otog~aph~c Satellite Tracking dta~io~s - -A?O Ephemeris ~ - - oy ';~;.:-lea H . f.!oo:-e a:1d .COr: A. La.t:tman. 30 Taole of Contents CHAPTER IV ( cont CHAPTER V : Program of Spot Predictions for Specific Observing Sites - -APO Ephemeris 3 -- Charts of Predic ted Satellite ::?osi tions - - by Jean B . Fairman and George Veis ..... 34 HARVARD ANNOUNCEMEdT CARDS ....... . . . . . .... 40 PRE.Lii'iliNA::ti JGSULTS ~R0~1 O:?.(I'~ ~d:.J '""'P'"'\':;:CING 0:;:;' U. S . E!\ \'H SAr.I'ELLIT:SS J. Allen Hynek'* and Fred L . \ltlipple** ~ the satellit:e program o.f the International Geo- physical Year the complex operations performed by the Op- tical Sat~llite Tracking Program of the Smith.3onian Astro- physical Obser vatory are a result of teamwork in the f ullest sens e of the wor d . The manifold tasks include t h e visu~l acquisition of the artificial e a r t h satellites, the com- putation of search ephemerides and predictions, the opera- tion of a wor l d -wide network of precision tracking cameras capable of photographing small objects at distances of hun- dreds of miles and timing these photographs to better tha n thousandth of a second, the screening, reduction, and analysis of incoming data, and last but not least, the dis- semination of the reduced data t o the scientific community . Remembering that since October 4 , 1957, there has been a total of eight objects projected into satellite orbits, v1e hardly need to point ou~ that the erf'orts expended b y thousands of persons, including the volunteer Moonwatch t eam rnembe~s, in the Optical Tracking.Pro~ram alone are outstanding. ,~ith great scientific enthusiasm and satis{action, our staff membe r s h ave par t icipated in this u ndertaking, orten well beyon d the norT.Jal call of duty. \ve have not note d similar dedication save in tirne 3 of national emergency. The coope r ation of the U. S . Naval Research Laborato~J Ln furn~3hing us with critical prediction data for ~atellites jit~ live r1dior has been of rnajo~ importance. Also~ the comput a 1;:!.0 :1 oi.' e pherr.e :>i de s and orbital da t a would :nave been v~ :o~ually impossible ,.o~i ~hout the generou3 cooperation of the I:lte r':lati.:n-.a.l .3u.3ine3S 11a ch:!.nes Corporation a:ld the Compu - ta ~ions Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute o f Tech- nology in Ca~bridge. !~ssocic..te Di:-ector Smi thso':.la::~ Astrophysical Observato:-y, in charg-; o f the 09tical J3. -'-;elll "';e r.I't'acking P:>ogra m :Jir~ctor; Smi ~hsonian .A3 t:o phy3ical Obse.:-vato:-y Th:! sub;:)~qu~:l t s~c t ion.:;; of this caller ., .ton ''13..V~ b n pr~par~d individually by me~bers or' the Smithsonian A3tro- phys teal Obst->rvatory \>Vho are ac ti v cly \'Torking in this particular field and therefore best able to .r::::-esent a factual and informat i v e account of the resp~ctive aspects of the program. In this initial chapter, ~re wish to summariz e as well as outline from an overall point of view the orbital data and results trhich t-ie have been able to obtain wi t h regard to Satellites 1958 Alpha, 1958 Beta One, and 1958 Ga~ua. The mainstay of the long- range optical tracking pro- g ram i s the 'lOrldwide network of precis ion photographic stations, employing at each obse~ring station a 3-axis, 20-i~ch aperture, f / 1 camer a d~signed especially for the hotographic tracking of a~tificial earth satellites. '!'h e optics for the s e cameras were designed by Dr. Ja"Tle s G. Baker, and constructed by the Perkin- Elme r Corporation. Th~y employ ~ unique 3 -corrector lens system having 4 aspherica l s:J.r-face s , in como ina tion 'lfi th a 31 -inch con - ventional spherical mir:-or, providing a us~aole fi~ld o f 30. The motor -driven mechanical drive provides se- quential tracking of a sat~llite and of s tar background the s~"Tle 250 x 55 rom. film frame, in cyclical succession so that many individual photographs can be obtained during a given satellit~ passage . The unique mechanical system :ras desig:1e d by Mr. Joseph Nll.nn and fabricated by 3oller a n d Chivens, Inc. , all or Sout h Pasadena, California. urgency imposed upon the optical tracking p~ogram OJ the launching of the Russian satellite s w~de i t d e - s~rable to expedite the construc~ion of the stations and r.o obtain the use of auxilla~J cameras to go into operation b~fore the arrival of the Ba!-<:er-Nunn cameras . Through t h e . xcell~nt cooperation of th~ Ballistic Rea rch Labo~atory .,,'! have ooi:aine d ,;he use of t wo S M T (Small :'!issiles Telecamera) instrQ~ents. In addition, s~veral phot o - th~odolites have been furnished through the courtesy of the U. S. Air Force , thus ~4king possible the comple on ~t any earli~r da t e tha n othe ise possible an ~ff~ctive i:rack1ng n~twork. As discus s e d by Karl G. Henize i n his r~port, the full complem~nt of :aa;.cer- Nunn cameras is e x - o~cted to b~ in op~ration by nid June. For an ~rtlficial sat.ll~t~ ~o b e traclc~d rno3t f~ctiv~ "2..:; for ~cienti.i:"'ic :;:>urpose;j, ~: e t-r:tckil"~ '1.ccu:-acy mu3;:; "'.:>e ot' !:: ... :nat r~orr:p.an Labo-r ... atories, /ill_:Lrr.s Say, ':fisco~sin, r'or eac n of tne Lwelv~ obs~rving static~s. The tim~ esen~at!on .,, 1 thin e 1-::h came r a is photographe d on each fram~. It can be s tated thac the sc:entiflc value of a 3at~llit~ !."'or many geophysical pu:-poses rises gr~a tly ltTi th 1 tn longevity. Pr~cision obnervations of non-asphericalJ close artlflcial s.J.t~.~llites ar~ of littl~ value in solving major geodeti c problems becaus~ of the variabla mot ion introduced by vary- ing orientation and the consequent irre gular drag. Hence th! pr~dent sche dule in establishing the precision camera n:ograms has occasioned little scientific loss. This more lei3u:'~ly program has more than o~:set this loss, i n terms or improve d optical and mechanical perfo~nce. T~e succ~ssrul photographs of the first two -~erican satellites by several of the net~ork s tatior.s is a grati- fying s ignal o.f the routine tracl<.~ .. !"'..g soon to b e ~ft:ec ted . Th~ es tablis!'unent of the photographic n e t-,rork Not.:ld not have b el!n possible without the coop eration o.f s~veral for~ign gove~ments. Particular note must be take n of the g a~ adsistance rece iv~d throug~ the resp~ctive I . G.Y. cor.mi tt~es from the gove rnments of Arg entina, Australia, India., I~an, Japan, Netherlands An~ill~s, Peru and th~ Union o f South Africa. The i r sympa~hetic appreciation of the urgency of the total program ha s been i n dispensible , and our work in those s e v eral countries has been carri e d out i n a thoroughly cooperativ e manne r approp riate to the spirit o~ the Inter- na tiona.l G~ophysical Yea~. An inte g::>al part of the optical tracki:lg p rogram, ~o~plementa~y to the p r ecision prog~am, ls the far-f l llilg --13ua l oos erving ;>,....oj e c t ~!":ned MCOtT'.VATCH. Co:1ce i v e d 0ri_na~ily as an acauisition and conna~dsance miss~on to cov r ~e~iods i~ed~ately after launcning and sho='tly b e - r'o r e d~mi3e, in fina l s t a g e s of ~he existe~ce of a s a t e l lite ; ... oO .. 'ftiATC:! teams hav~ served cont1::1urusly as interim +:-:--acking 3 ta t:ons dur i::.g tt.e p~riod of .:'i!"'.al prepa~a ~ion o:' t;~1e o~ographic trac~ir~ stations. ~he exe~pla~f HOrk o f the o ... ,!ral t:1ousand3 o f persons .(:l.Jol-: e d in this program s~ands out as a s i gnificant cont:-ibu-;io:L ~o th~ sate llit-e prog::-am, :1:.d an o u t3 ;a:::ding e.Y..ampl~ o!.' l a 1 r-a::-tic ipa t:!.on in ~n lr.t~rna tiot"'..al !3Cl~ntific ve'1":1..l.::'l'!. Larsely ti1r o ugh tr.e use of NOONTIIATCH observa ti0ns, the computations and analysis d iviston of SnithsoY'llan Ast'~"'o!)hJSi.cal Obs-e"':'va <:.ory n;s b ee-n ~ble to ~ r:ve ""'' c:nli' i- c 1.Y1 t. ev~n t h:!X)ugh p limir.ary, sc l~n tlf lc r~sul t s . 1'h~s ~ are t:c:"a ted in Chapt~r III and lnc lud~ t h e orbit d~ ter- mination of 1958a and an evaluatlon of the variable acceleration of this satellite and of its life e x pectancy With resp~ct to 195Ba the perigee diotance i s so relatively high that Iittle can be s aid of its life expectancy save t hat in all pr obability it mus t b e counte!d in d e c a de!s . Its roc ke t carrier, 1958a 't>Till probably have a sig nificantly shorte r lifetime~ but still p e rhaps a de c a d e or mor~. Various computationa l programs have been devise d, and oth~rs a r e i n p rocess, for the utilization of s atellite observations for prediction purp o s e s as contrast~d to their us~ for r esults o f ge ophysic a l inte r est. Eph~merid~s ror g e nera l use as well as for sp~cific use at giv~n g~ogra phical points h a ve b een prog ramed; a n examp l e o f the l atte r is the program ~oJhich prints out actual Ba k e r - Nunn camera s ettings \'lhic h can b e cabled directl y to t he n etwork sta t i ons . mplic i t in the p~ediction program i s th~ obj eccive to disseminate not onlv spe cific pre dict i ons but general satelli~e info ion of a n astro n omical characte r t o th~ publ i c through the seve~al mas s media . This we ave r ecognize d and me t by concise sta t e me n t s to the press and by the p r e paration of charts illus~rating visible passages of satellites ove r the Un ited State s . OPriC. L S!~TELL:T.Z OBSER"/AT IONS Tha Net!fork of Precision Photographic Satellite T::>acking Station3 Karl G. Henize* l. Sta~ion Operation On the date of thia report, nine photographic satellite- tracking stations of the planned twelve -station network are oneration. These stations are listed below in Table One togc;ther with their dates o~ first useful operation and with the instrument no,.t~ installed a~ each station. Operat ion Instru~wnent NcTJI Mex.i~o 5 Baker-Nunn Baker-}lunn Baker- Nunn Bak~r-Nunn Baker-Nunn A.:-g~nti!1a I ::;8 Suuer :r-Japan :.:epo::>ts partial operation only, and ";'/e may a:r~icipate full o9e r=..tion ,o~i thi!'l t.vo ~o three day3 . 25 :1arch o peratio:1 da~e . * s ior .-\.3trono:rl-=!', i n l.~3.::-6e vf -c:"lo"t;ographic trac~c2.:1g sca~iQn3, Oot al Sa~clli~e r::-~cking ?rogram: Smi~h- >onl As~roohy3ical Ob~e~;ato~J k~ our o f e stations listed abo'l~, Super Schmidc n;~ teo."" co.mc.ras o:> Small Nisslle T~lecameras have b~e:1 i.n- s tll.~d o n an intd:'i~ baa 3. As 3~own ln T~bl~ o, t es~ i n .... ,:r'J;n~ats Nill e .,rentually '....e replac::d D J Eake:-- 1h .. 'l'1 ;.- m?.r~ . .,li' r.hus r~sul-:ing in a \~./~lva-dta"Cion ne;;,.,ork eq_..tlpoed '\1lljh i'"lentical inat:-uments of superior precision and accuracy. Tb..: Ja":e.s in Table O~e ar~ da:.es o r actual accornpl1sh."1lent. The: da~c3 llsted below i n Table '".-to repres~nt our presant ..;chedule for the r~rnaining Baker- Nunn cameras. Scheduled Operational Additional Baker Station No. it!ay I 58 I!G.n 18 Apr. Curacao 28 Argentina 18 Ha:.<~a.i i 2 . Pho~ographic Reduction PhoT.ographs of American satellites 1958 a and 1958 ~1 'l(~re first obtained during the visibility period around ~larch 18, 19 58, at our photographic tracking stations 0 Suc- 0essful photography continues and the f ilms showing satellites, af';e!" imme diate :r:.ald ~ading, are being reduced for precise :at a ;:raluation. The image quality is such that we may be a~le, h furthe~ efforts, to obta i n also pre c ise photographs o~ Sa lli~e 1958 52 . This prog~a~ for precise da~a reduction .:::. ; Camo:-:..dge 1.3 ..1::1de:' the su.:;;e:,:"rision of Dr. G:orge Van ::ai~s o~cAJ Consul~a~v. Special precision ~easu~ing engi~es ~or :.1~ ~acting ~nd sea~ch are used, resulting in h16hlJ accu e oos~J on ~:liorma on. ~ l3 expec a ~.a~ a ca~a~o~ue o~ pr~- ctsion da t a r~om t h e t racking ca~e~s can b e issued doon in a natu~ si:nila~ ~o the catalogues of i'100. ftrlA.TCH da<;;a . 3 . Rad.'..lc~ion o~ P30'!'0T~.ACK Obserra tions \ ~onsidaraole :1um:>er o f photo~:r-aphs o:' the 3ovi~r. sa- r~lli s .,_a-re bee!'l :-eceiv~d f!'om ?:-!OTOTRACK sta~ions a::.d a:na- v=~r pho~ographers and are being reduced i n ~n a~lo~ous man- n ; :-. 'fo ~t.tch pho:ographs h a ,re a d yet been ~ceived :1ere of -;he S. Jacellites. Leo~ Campbell, Jr. * .,...ce +-he 1 PUn,...l->ing~ a~ ... hP. u-S artif'lri-:~ satellites., 13 r~IOOrPtiATCH 3"cat:..or.s particip2.':i~g ir.. t'1e S11i thsonian As trop!':ys ical Observator"J' s v l::ua.l observing program have reported a total of 59 obser'r~tions. These 'Here made betwee:1 Fenrua:F~J 3 a::d ~!a:-ch 2 4 of l958a and between March 19 a~d March 26 o~ 1958~1$ In addition~ "cl-le first sigh:iY:g af 1958:3? TTas r:1ade on i and the first sighting of 158~ was reported on Ma~ch 27, All observa-cions lis ced in ti;.e follo..r.:..:1.g Catalogue 1ere used 1:1 the sm:. ::hsor.ian Oose!'vatory' s computer pro- gra~ for dece~ini:!.g subs~tell~te points~ Some veFJ fe~ co o~2 deg~ee of ar Ho~ev9~, t~ese ur.li~ted observations li.:1inary orbi-:al elene!"ltSo It will be -:...1nders '!;ood the.-: a:: this ti::.e,.. only days af~er the 1958~ and 1958~ lau~chings, the observations reported of satelli-;es 1958~ a:!.d 1958~ a~e preli~i~ar7 A~alysis Section. ~ay ea3~ly develop that ~o~e of o;:;hese s i6~tir1gs ~us t "'::le di.:;carded later the U .. S. sa telll tes :~ere made clu ~"'ing a p ~r-iod in \'{{l.:.(:h many of the 2)0 ::;tatlons :1ere e11gaged in observing 1957!3 :.1s \'Tello Tt.\fo r-1001--TWATC:rt teams reported unlque observing experi- ences. Alamogordo station 102 on !'larch 19 observed 1957131~ 1958a. and 1958!31; the latter t~"o objects 1t1ere about 13m 30s apart. Albuquerque station 103 on larch 20 observed 1958!31, and l958a. in that order. Catalogue lists the observations by object, and in chronological order. The Key to MOO~MATCH Station Code Numbers gives the geographical coordinates of the stations listed in the Catalogue. It will be noted