FLIGHTS TO PLANETS

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28429, 8 November 1957, Page 9

FLIGHTS TO PLANETS

“Possibility In Near Future”

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) NEW YORK, November 6. Interplanetary flights might be carried out in the near future, Professor Ari Sternfeld, a Russian authority on astrophysics, said in an article written in Moscow for the United Press. Coded signals from the apparatus in Sputnik II had signalled, “Dog behaves . calmly.” Evidently living conditions in the Sputnik were quite satisfactory. . This made scientists confident that, with time, man could be sent into the cosmos. “Sputnik II will stay in cosmic space considerably longer than the first,” he said. “Its period of revolution round the earth will with time decrease only insignificantly, for it revolves 800 kilometres (497 miles) higher than the first sputnik’s orbit, where air resistance is practically negligible. “A deep vacuum such as that which exists at the height of 1700 kilometres (1060 miles) is not obtained in a single laboraon the earth. “If the sputnik remained constantly at this altitude, its life would probably last for many years. The sputnik experiences very slight air resistance, although it is quite insignificant even at the perigee (the point on its orbit nearest the earth). “Even so, the sputnik’s speed will decrease in time under the influence of this factor. “The first man-made satellite had at the beginning of its existence a revolution period of Ihr 36.2 min. The second satellite's was Ihr 43.7 min. “Basing ourselves on the law of heavenly mechanics, it is easy to calculate that the large axis of the second sputnik orbit is approximately 700 kilometres (440 miles) longer than the large axis of the first sputnik’s orbit. “Hence the perigee of Sputnik II passes approximately at the same height as the first sputnik’s perigee at the beginning of its existence. “But even the lowest point of the man-made satellite's orbit is high enough to enable the sending of sonde rockets to other bodies of the solar system without fear of the air mass surrounding the earth. “Theoretically Easier” “Moreover, the launching of an interplanetary rocket theoretically is easier from the sputnik’s perigee than from its apogee (the farthest point of its orbit). “This paradoxical situation is the result of the fact that the rocket moves with maximum speed precisely at the moment when it passes through the lowest point of the orbit. , “If the speed of a rocket launched from a given sputnik were increased to 3.51 kilometres (2.20 miles) a second, it would be entirely sufficient to reach Venus. “With further insignificant increases in speed to 3.61 kilometres (2.25 miles) a second, a rocket would be able to fly to Mars. “Hence, interplanetary flights may be carried out in the near future.”