I thought that this article was worth a mention in my blog as the world is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1 satellite. The majority of the items required to build this system can be obtained from electronic component stores. If you don't believe me, then check this out:
| 1 | Tomy Baby Monitor - Empire Stores | £44.99 |
| 2 | Netgear Wireless Router - Maplin | £49.99 |
| 3 | Mercury Thermometer - Rapid Stores | £1.05 |
| 4 | 4 x 6v Battery - Maplin | £19.96 |
| 5 | balloon - Maplin | £3.49 |
| 6 | Back-up Power Supply - Maplin | £3.20 |
| 7 | Internal Thermostat - Maplin | £4.99 |
| 8 | Internal Fan - Maplin | £3.96 |
| 9 | Biscuit Tin and Foil - Sainsbury | £2.99 |
So there you go, for a modest amount of cash, you too can produce a satellite with the same functionality as the Sputnik 1.
Getting it into space however is a different story altogether. The UK's biggest investment into space flight was through the Black Arrow space programme in the 1950s and 1960s. The pioneering work in the UK was undertaken by the British Aerospace company, Saunders-Roe. Based out of the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of the UK, Saunders-Roe produced flying boats. in 1955 a design for a rocket was put forward to the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE)code named Black Knight. 22 motors were built and test fired between 1955 and 1965 from a station located on the Isle of Wight near the needles. Actual vehicle launch tests took place from Woomera, Australia where the RAE was testing the possibility of the BK being used as the launch and re-entry vehicle of the Blue Streak ballistic missile programme.
BK was superceded in the 1960s by a secondary design named Black Arrow. This vehicle was larger and more powerful capable of carrying greater payloads. The following from Wikipedia shows the launch programme for the Black Arrow bringing the UK into the Space Race. R0 was launched on 28 June 1969 and was destroyed by ground control after an electrical fault led to a loss of guidance control. R1 was launched on 4 March 1970 and was successful, although it carried no third stage payload. R2 was launched on 2 September 1970. The first stage was successful but a leak in the HTP pressurisation system meant the rocket did not have enough velocity to reach orbit, and crashed into the Gulf of Carpentaria with the loss of the X-2 experimental satellite. R3 was launched on 28 October 1971. The launch was completely successful and placed into orbit the Prospero X-3 satellite, making the United Kingdom the sixth nation to place a satellite into orbit.
The cancellation of the Black Arrow project was announced in the House of Commons on 29 July 1971 by the then Minister for Aerospace, Frederick Corfield, although permission was given for the final launch of R3 to take place after this date. The last vehicle, R4, was never launched, and may be seen on display at the Science Museum, London. The decision to cancel the programme was taken on grounds of cost effectiveness; it was decided that using NASA's solid fuel Scout rocket for future launches would offer adequate performance at a lower cost.
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