"Wars First Target Of Russian Rocket"

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29102, 14 January 1960, Page 9

"Wars First Target Of Russian Rocket"

(Rec. 9.30 p.m.) WARSAW, January 13. Mars will probably be the first choice of the Russians when they are considering the sending of rockets to other planets in the solar system, according to a leading Polish astronautical specialist, Dr. Jan Gadomski.

Dr. Gadomski in an interview with the official Polish news agency Pape, quoted in two Warsaw newspapers yesterday said the Russians may fire the first interplanetary rocket at Mars on April 16. Asked which planets the Russions would first attempt. Dr Gadomski said he thought Mars would be taken into consideration first as it was one of the nearest planets and was also easy to observe because of fta thin atrrosnhere.

Dr. Gadomski said although Venus was nearer earth than Mars, it had such a thick atmosohere and dense clouds that research became very difficult. He added: “In order to reach Mars a rocket must attain a strictly calculated sneed of 11.59 kilometres a second. If It attains slightly greater speed it will then miss Mars and become a solar satellite. If the speed is lower the rocket will not reach Mars at all

“It seems that the over-all oroblem of mechanics is not unattainable in view of Soviet achievements One must Increase ’he speed of a space rocket by several hundred metres a second “The rocket must be sent from earth on an elintical tangent to both earth’s and Mars’s orbits H must be calculated with extreme precision, for both earth and Mars are in constant motion. The rocket must hit Mars at the nrecisely-deflned point of Its orbit.

Flying like all space rockets oowered by chemical fuel a space vehicle will reach Mars in 758 days if fired when Mars i< closest to earth (about 34.796000 miles) This moment will occur on December 30. so the rocket should be fired on April 16 “An important problem will be Provision of sufficiently strong batteries for radio communication by the rocket.” Dr. Gadomski said: “It should have at least seven kilowatts to make it oossfble for signals to reach earth and it must be a big radio transmitter The solar batteries will not be very strong, for only half the sun’s rays reach there comnared with those reaching earth”

Professor Anatole Blagonravov, who heads the Russian delega-

tion to the International Space Conference at Nice, said yesterday it would be possible to send a man to another planet “not this year but in the near future." The professor, head of the Soviet satellite project, said: "Man alone, after seeing with his own eyes, can say whether life as we conceive it on earth is oos'ible on other planets." “Pilotless rockets destined for Mars or Venus were not for this year but for the very near future.” he told a questioner. Co-operation was desirable between Soviet and American scientists and this was already envisaged both for satellite experiments and pure atomic research since his visit to the United States last November. Professor Blagonravov said. The president of the French Committee for Space Research, Mr Pierre Auger, told reporters it would take one year for the countries represented at the congress to assimilate information exchanged. Mr Auger said there was still insufficient information concerning space above 25 miles from the earth.

Professor Blagonravov supported this statement and said it was one reason why man should be launched into space. Certain observations could be made only by man while no instruments for them existed. The distinguishing of different colours was an example, he said.