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Sparta (rocket)
The Sparta was a three-stage rocket that launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT, on 29 November 1967. Sparta used a surplus American Redstone as its first stage, an Antares-2 as a second stage, and a BE-3 as a third stage. Several Spartas were launched from 1966–67 from Woomera Test Range in Woomera, South Australia as part of a joint United States–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena, and the U.S. donated a spare for the scientific satellite launch into polar orbit A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of abo .... The first stage was recovered from the Simpson Desert in 1990 after being found in searches by explorer Dick Smith the previous year. References * Space launch vehicles of the Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Ballistic Missile Agency
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) was formed to develop the U.S. Army's first large ballistic missile. The agency was established at Redstone Arsenal on 1 February 1956, and commanded by Major General John B. Medaris with Wernher von Braun as technical director. History The Redstone missile was the first major project assigned to ABMA. The Redstone was a direct descendant of the V-2 missile developed by the von Braun team in Germany during World War II. After the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard was chosen by the DoD Committee on Special Capabilities, over the ABMA's proposal to use a modified Redstone ballistic missile as a satellite launch vehicle, ABMA was ordered to stop work on launchers for satellites and focus, instead, on military missiles. Von Braun continued work on the design for what became the Jupiter-C rocket. This was a three-stage rocket, designed to test Jupiter missile components which, by ''coincidence'', could be used to launch a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Encyclopedia Astronautica
The ''Encyclopedia Astronautica'' is a reference web site on space travel. A comprehensive catalog of vehicles, technology, astronauts, and flights, it includes information from most countries that have had an active rocket research program, from Robert Goddard to the NASA Space Shuttle and the Soviet Buran programme. Founded in 1994 and maintained for most of its existence by space enthusiast and author Mark Wade. He has been collecting such information for most of his life. Between 1996 and 2000 the site was hosted by '' Friends and Partners in Space''. The site is no longer updated or maintained and is now considered as partially unreliable. Although it contains a great deal of information, not all of it is correct. Reception and accolades The American Astronautical Society gave the site the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History which "recognizes exceptional, sustained efforts to inform and educate on spaceflight and its history through one or mor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redstone Sparta
Redstone may refer to: Military * Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, a U.S. Army base ** Redstone (rocket family), a U.S. missile and support system, named for the Arsenal ** PGM-11 Redstone, U.S. missile and carrier rocket, namesake of the family * USNS ''Redstone'' (T-AGM-20), a tracking/communications ship supporting the Apollo program * Redstone Old Fort, an 18th-century military post in western Pennsylvania Places and structures * Redstone, Colorado * Redstone Old Fort, a fort * Redstone, New Hampshire, site of abandoned "red granite" quarry * Redstone Building, San Francisco, California * Redstone (Dubuque, Iowa), a historic home * Redstone Creek (Pennsylvania), a historic creek in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania ** Brownsville, Pennsylvania, known as "Redstone" when it was a notable 18th-century frontier town ** Redstone Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania * Redstone (Burlington, Vermont), a historic estate * Redstone, British Columbia, a settlement in the Chilcotin District ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Smith (entrepreneur)
Richard Harold Smith (born 18 March 1944) is an Australian entrepreneur, aviator and philanthropist. He holds a number of aviation world records and is the founder of Dick Smith Electronics, ''Australian Geographic'' and Dick Smith Foods. He was selected as 1986 Australian of the Year. In 2010, he founded the media production company Smith&Nasht with the intention of producing films about global issues. In 2015, he was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia. He is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Early life Smith's father was a salesman and sometime manager at Angus & Robertson's bookstore. He started a business that failed when Smith was 17, and his mother a housewife. His maternal grandfather was pictorialist photographer Harold Cazneaux. As a child, Smith was considered academically hopeless and, having a speech defect, called himself "Dick Miff". From his home in East Roseville, Smith attended primary school at Roseville Public School at which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polar Orbit
A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about 60 - 90 degrees to the body's equator. Launching satellites into polar orbit requires a larger launch vehicle to launch a given payload to a given altitude than for a near-equatorial orbit at the same altitude, because it cannot take advantage of the Earth's rotational velocity. Depending on the location of the launch site and the inclination of the polar orbit, the launch vehicle may lose up to 460 m/s of Delta-v, approximately 5% of the Delta-v required to attain Low Earth orbit. Usage Polar orbits are used for Earth-mapping, reconnaissance satellites, as well as for some weather satellites.Science Focus 2nd Edition 2, pg. 297 The Iridium satellite constellation uses a polar orbit to provide telecommunications services. Near- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woomera, South Australia
Woomera, unofficially Woomera village, refers to the domestic area of RAAF Base Woomera. Woomera village has always been a Defence-owned and operated facility. The village is located on the traditional lands of the Kokatha people in the Far North region of South Australia, but is on Commonwealth-owned land and within the area designated as the 'Woomera Prohibited Area' (WPA). The village is approximately north of Adelaide. In common usage, "Woomera" refers to the wider RAAF Woomera Range Complex (WRC), a large Australian Defence Force aerospace and systems testing range (the 'Woomera Test Range' (WTR)) covering an area of approximately and is operated by the Royal Australian Air Force. Woomera 'village' is part of RAAF Base Woomera which, along with the ''Woomera Test Range'' (WTR), forms the larger entity known as the Woomera Range Complex (WRC), promulgated by Chief of Air Force (CAF) in June 2014. As at the the Woomera Village had a population of 146, and its usual pop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redstone (rocket)
The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe. It was the first US missile to carry a live nuclear warhead, in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test, Hardtack Teak. The Redstone was a direct descendant of the German V-2 rocket, developed primarily by a team of German rocket engineers brought to the United States after World War II. The design used an upgraded engine from Rocketdyne that allowed the missile to carry the W39 warhead which weighed with its reentry vehicle to a range of about . Redstone's prime contractor was the Chrysler Corporation. The Redstone spawned the Redstone rocket family which holds a number of firsts in the US space program, notably launching the first US astronaut. It was retired by the Army in 1964 and replaced by the solid-fueled MGM-31 P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ... country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical Forests of Australia, rainforests in the north-east, and List of mountains in Australia, mountain ranges in the south-east. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approx ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solid-fuel Rocket
A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/ oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used in warfare by the Arabs, Chinese, Persians, Mongols, and Indians as early as the 13th century. All rockets used some form of solid or powdered propellant up until the 20th century, when liquid-propellant rockets offered more efficient and controllable alternatives. Solid rockets are still used today in military armaments worldwide, model rockets, solid rocket boosters and on larger applications for their simplicity and reliability. Since solid-fuel rockets can remain in storage for an extended period without much propellant degradation and because they almost always launch reliably, they have been frequently used in military applications such as missiles. The lower performance of solid propellants (as compared to liquids) does not favor their use as primary propulsion in mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a hydroxyl group). Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a characteristic wine-like odor and pungent taste. It is a psychoactive recreational drug, the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks. Ethanol is naturally produced by the fermentation process of sugars by yeasts or via petrochemical processes such as ethylene hydration. It has medical applications as an antiseptic and disinfectant. It is used as a chemical solvent and in the synthesis of organic compounds, and as a fuel source. Ethanol also can be dehydrated to make ethylene, an important chemical feedstock. As of 2006, world production of ethanol was , coming mostly from Brazil and the U.S. Etymology ''Ethanol'' is the systematic name defined by the Interna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
