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50 When you reflect on the spaceflight achievement of the past fifty years which we mark at some length in this issue, can I ask to you consider this question “Am I impressed or disappointed with what has happened since October 1957 ? You might well be terribly impressed on account of the number and variety of launches (around 6,000) since then

with exploration of almost all the planets in our solar system, the manned Moon Landings, the Hubble Space Telescope and the growing international cooperation in space research being amongst the many highlights. The growing desire for space participation amongst wealthy people will also mean that the signs are propitious that space travel will indeed become much more commonplace in the coming decades. But then again what might have been and has not happened ? Despite predictions following the euphoria of the first manned Moon landings we are nowhere near the realisation of a permanent base on the Moon and predictions of a date for manned visits to Mars seem to

suggest that this will not happen for some 20 or 30 years yet. We also might have expected that a sophisticated and much larger permanent space station would have been in place long ago, given the starting progress made in the 1970’s but budgetary, political and philosophical considerations in the USA and in Europe have meant that what we have now in the shape of the ISS is a very modest achievement. Few reading this issue will be around in 50 years’ time to reflect on 100 years of space exploration but what is to come even in the next decade will still be quite fascinating. (And by the way, by coincidence, this is my 50th edition as Editor, having taken over from Peter Talbot-Ashby with the July 1995 edition #25).

ISSN 0953 1599

THE JOURNAL OF THE ASTRO SPACE STAMP SOCIETY Issue No 75 October 2007

Patron:

Cosmonaut Georgi Grechko, Hero of the Soviet Union

COMMITTEE Chair :

Margaret Morris, 55 Canniesburn Drive, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 1RX (E-mail: MMorris671@aol.com)

Hon. Secretary:

Brian J.Lockyer, 21, Exford Close,Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset BS23 4RE

(E-mail : blockyer.spacestamps@tesco.net)

Compiler of Checklist / Hon Treasurer / Postal Packet Organiser

Harvey Duncan,16, Begg Avenue, Falkirk, Scotland FK1 5DL (E-mail: harvey.duncan@lineone.net)

Orbit : Editor

Jeff Dugdale, c/o Elgin High School, Elgin, Moray. Scotland IV30 6UD (E-mail: jefforbited@aol.com)

Webmaster

Derek Clarke, 36 Cherryfield Road, Walkington, Dublin 12 (E-mail: dclarke@utvinternet.com)

Postal Auction Organiser: David Saunders, 42 Burnet Road, Bradwell,

Great Yarmouth. NR31 8SL.

Overseas Representatives: Australia: Charles Bromser, 37 Bridport Street, Melbourne

3205. Germany:Jurgen P. Esders, An der Apostelkirche 10, 10783

Berlin Eire:Derek Clarke, 36 Cherryfield Rd, Walkinstown. Dublin 12.

France: Jean-Louis Lafon, 23 Rue de Mercantour, 78310 Maurepas

Netherlands: Bart Beimers, NJ Haismasrt 7, 9061 BV Gierkerk Russia: Mikhail Vorobyov, 31-12 Krupskaya Str, Kostroma

United States: Dr Ben Ramkissoon, 3011 White Oak Lane, Oak Brook, Il 60521 USA

Life Members:

UK - Harvey Duncan, George Spiteri, Ian Ridpath, Margaret Morris, Michael Packham, Dr W.R. Withey, Paul Uppington,

Jillian Wood. Derek Clarke (Eire,) Charles Bromser (Australia.) Tom Baughn (U.S.A.,) Ross Smith (Australia,)

Vincent Leung Wing Sing (Hong Kong.) Mohammed K.Safdar (Saudi Arabia)

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Sputnik 50 by Arie Olckers Editor of Nieuwsbrief

Quarterly journal of Ruimtevaart Filatelie Club Nederland

Specially translated for Orbit by Eleanor Coker

On 4th October 1957, 50 years ago, the Soviet Union

launched its first earth satellite - Sputnik. It was made

up of an aluminium sphere with a diameter of 58 cm and a weight of 83.6 kg. This first satellite had four

protruding antennae at the back. Inside this sphere was instrumentation for the measurement of air

density and temperature that also collected data regarding the concentration of electrons in the

atmosphere. The orbit of Sputnik lay between 227 and

941 km in height, the radio frequency was at 20.005 and 40.002 MHz and chemical batteries were used. A

modified R-7 (SS-6 Sapwood) intercontinental rocket launched Sputnik.

The context of the launch M.K.Tichonravov, one of the leading people in the

Russian rocket industry, had declared on 4th October 1951 that the USSR was as far ahead technologically

as the United States and that it could launch an

artificial earth satellite. On 27th November 1953 Alexander Nesmejanov from the Soviet Academy of

Sciences announced that the creation of an artificial earth satellite was a real possibility.

In 1954 it appeared such a visionary outlook that Sergej P. Korolev had had when he wrote that now

was the correct moment in time to form a research team for the pioneering work in the area of satellites

and to make an in-depth study of the problems connected with them. In 1955 the Soviet Academy for

Sciences sent 100 scholars a circular in which they

were asked to comment on the use of artificial earth satellites and what these could do in space. The

answers differed widely from no interest in fantasies to detailed plans.

On 30 August 1955 the Central Committee of the

Academy for Sciences gave a special order to accelerate work on artificial earth satellites. Sergej P.

Korolev said that within 1½ years there should be a launch rocket and that no time should be lost. A

scientific programme had to be set up and there had to be factories to make the instruments and equipment

for 5 to 6 satellites. One of Korolev’s co-workers said

that it cost an insane effort before the first Sputnik went into space.

With the knowledge we have now one might think that

the first Sputnik was nothing special, namely a sphere with 4 transmitter antennae, that had nothing to do

with the very advanced installations that are currently used in satellites and space laboratories.

The shock that the successful launch of the Sputnik

caused in the United States was a heavy blow, in spite

of the fact that on 06-01-1957 there had been a long article in Pravda about earth satellites and an

announcement regarding launch possibilities. The result was that in America everything was concentrated on

space travel research.

It can thus be said that space research got into its

stride after the launch of the first Sputnik, that took place a mere 50 years ago.

Russian 2007 Cosmonautics Day stamps here on cover provided by our Murmansk based

member Andrei Aphonin also marks the coincident 100th birthdate of Korolev and

150th anniv of the birth year of Tsiokovsky.

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In an article specially commissioned for Orbit Russian space expert Alexander Zheleznyakov, writes about the historical context in which Sputnik came to be launched. This article was translated for us by his friend and colleague Boris Spassky.

Mankind’s aspiration to overcome Earth's attraction

and to set off for the stars appeared a long time ago. Our ancestors must have dreamed about it when they lived in caves and later the best brains thought about it. But it was only in the second half of the Twentieth Century that man could make his dreams a reality.

Officially the Space Era began on the 4th of October

1957 at 19:28:34 Greenwich, when the intercontinental

ballistic rocket R-7 (now – famously called “The Seven”) launched from the missile test range at Tyura-Tam

deep in the Kazakh steppes, which nowadays is better known as cosmodrome Baikonur. Within nine minutes it

was orbiting as the world’s first artificial satellite.

The satellite project, which in the true sense of the

word allowed a man to head for outer space, began in Soviet Union in 1954. The initiator of this project as well

as a lot of other things in Soviet cosmonautics was Sergey Pavlovich Korolev and it was he who

generated the idea of using military missiles which were

being developed at that time for placing payloads, into near-earth orbit.

“Top Secret” Project But it took nearly two years for this concept to

receive powerful backing and begin realisation after passing the enactment of the Central Committee of

CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) and Council of Ministers of the USSR № 149-88cc (cc – is Russian abbreviation of the “top secret”). This

document provided for creation an undirected satellite for scientific purposes in 1957-1958. The mass of the

satellite was stipulated to be in the range of 1000-1400 kg (including 200-300 kg of the scientific

instruments) and the date of test launch was to be

summer 1957.

The draft of the apparatus appeared as early as July 1956. Despite the fact that it was intended

exclusively for scientific tasks, all work on its creation

was classified as secret and the satellite received the

code name “Object D”. This was in fact the satellite,

which was planned as the first space launch.

From the very beginning difficulties appeared, which

even Korolev with his energy and enthusiasm couldn’t

overcome. He hoped that

the scientists would see the possibilities which the

satellites could grant them. He anticipated that he would

be swamped with proposals, among which it

would be necessary

to choose the best and interesting one.

Instead of this he

was faced with

sluggishness and even laziness from

the “academicians”. They proposed experiments and

measurements, which could

endow nothing new to science. The instruments,

which could be installed onboard the satellite, were

massive and bulky.

But this wasn’t the most

crucial for Korolev. He would consent to everything if only to be the first in space. But the schedule of the

instruments’ preparation was constantly frustrated. As early as the beginning of Autumn 1956 Korolev

realised that if he trusted the Academy of Sciences,

the Americans would put a satellite into orbit first.

50 Years of the Space Era

1998 and 2002 issues from Ukraine showing Korolev and his early Sputniks whilst below Soviet issues from 1977 and 1986

commemorate the “The Chief Designer”

Two of the three stamps issued by Russia on

Cosmonautics Day this year related to Sputnik and Korolev, shown here with the Sputnik postmark. (The third was for

Tsiolokovsky)

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So then Korolev made a difficult but necessary

decision. When after a year of work the satellite mock-

ups had still not been ready, he ordered his staff to prepare in parallel with the “Object D” something else,

more simple. On the 25th of November 1956 young designer Nikolay Aleksandrovich Kutyrkin was given the

task of the designing the simplest satellite, which was eventually to be launched as Sputnik.

In the beginning of 1957 Korolev made a request to the Government to speed up preparation and realisation

of the first launches of two rockets to put into orbit artificial satellites. He got permission but with the

reservation: at first the intercontinental ballistic missile

was to be perfected— and only then the satellite.

On the 15th of May 1957 the first R-7 rocket was launched from Tyura-Tam, but to the dismay of its

designers the launch was unsuccessful: the rocket exploded within a minute of take-off because of a fire in

the tail section.

And the next launch was also abnormal. So it was

only on the 21st of August that the rocket took off normally, passed all stages of flight without remarks and

the head section hit the mark. To strengthen the

success another “article” – this was the term used to refer to samples of defence technology in the USSR –

was launched on the 7th of September.

“Settled up” with the military, Korolev concentrated his every efforts of his OKB-1 on the satellite. (Russian abbreviation, direct translation is Special Design Bureau, OKB-1 is well-known in Russia as the first space design bureau headed by Korolev, nowadays, “Energia” corporation)

People didn’t sleep at nights, strained themselves to

breaking point doing their utmost, and on the 3rd of October the rocket with the satellite was installed on the

firing pad. And on the evening of the next day it headed for orbit.

No satellite before it could compare. Manufactured

in the shape of a sphere, the satellite has four antennae which looked like spokes up to 2.9 meters in installed

on its outer surface. Before launch they were folded up and “hidden” under the nose fairing and once in orbit

hey were unfolded in operational position.

Sputnik carried power-supply sources and two

radio transmitters with the frequency 20.005 and

40.002 MHz. Satellite’s signals looked like telegraph transmission with the duration of 0.3 s. When one of

the transmitters worked, the second had a pause. Reception of their signals gave a possibility to

investigate the conditions of the passage of radio waves from space to Earth and transmit information

about pressure and temperature inside the satellite.

The satellite was undirected and the 4-antennae

system provided nearly uniform beaming to all directions to exclude influence of its rotation on the

intensity of the received radio signals. Electrochemical

current source (silver-zinc batteries) with at least 2-3 weeks estimated period of work provided the power

supply for the onboard outfit.

The satellite was filled with nitrogen. The temperature inside it was maintained at the level of 20

to 30 oC by forced ventilation controlled with

temperature gauges.

Officially the first Soviet satellite as well as the second one were launched in accordance with the

obligations undertaken at conferences during the

International Geophysical Year. But it had a lot more, especially political significance. Its flight astonished the

World, showed the power of the USSR, demonstrating that a new superpower appeared on the world scene.

The New York Times newspaper wrote at that time that 90% of American space endeavour related to

talking about launches whilst the Russians’

achievement was 100% The first Soviet satellite flew for 92 days till the 4th

of January 1958 and made 1440 rotations around the

Earth. Then it entered the dense atmosphere layers

and burnt. In physical sense the satellite died. But in a figurative sense it continues its flight in people’s mind

even today.

During the next 50 years a little fewer than 4900

space launches were realized in different countries. 4500 being successful. More than 6500 space vehicles

have been put into near-Earth orbit and interplanetary routes. But all this happened later, after that simple

but deeply significant “Bip! Bip! Bip!” sounded from the Earth orbit.

Russian strip of four, issued on 1.12.04

commemorating 50 years of launches

from Baikonur Cosmodrome shows

the famous R-7 rocket extreme left

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Un-manned Satellites on Postage Stamps : 23 By Guest Contributors Don Hillger and Garry Toth

A version of this article first appeared in The Astrophile for Sept-Oct 2006

Alouette and International Satellite for Ionospheric

Studies (ISIS)

This is the twenty-third in a series of articles about un-manned satellites on

postage stamps. This article features two Canadian satellite series: Alouette and

I n t e r n a t i o n a l S a t e l l i t e f o r

Ionospheric Studies (ISIS). Two Alouettes were launched, in 1962 and 1965. Three ISIS were

launched: ISIS-X, ISIS-1, and ISIS-2 in 1965, 1969, and 1971 respectively. A fourth in the ISIS series,

ISIS-C, was canceled and never built.

Alouette-1 and 2 were small ionospheric

observatories with various detectors and experiments, to study the effects of the ionosphere on

communications. The bodies of these two spacecraft were similar, polyhedron in shape, about 1 m in

diameter, but a bit flattened at the poles. The

spacecraft were spin-stabilized at a slow rotation rate. Among the several antennas were two dipole

antennas, one pair up to 73 m long. The satellites had highly-inclined (80°) near-polar orbits: nearly circular

at approximately 1000 km for Alouette-1, and elliptical

(500 km perigee and 3000 km apogee) for Alouette-2.

ISIS-1 and 2 were also ionospheric observatories with numerous instruments, continuing the research

successfully begun by the two Alouettes regarding the influence of solar activity on the ionosphere which

directly affects communications. The spacecraft

bodies were all similar, polyhedron in shape, but a bit larger and less flattened than the Alouettes. Long

dipole antennas like those on the Alouettes were used on ISIS as well. The satellites had highly-inclined

(88°) near-polar orbits: elliptical (600 km perigee and

1500 km apogee) for ISIS-1, and nearly-circular at 1400 km for ISIS-2.

The earliest ISIS, ISIS-X, is better known as

Explorer-31. ISIS-X was launched in 1965 in conjunction with Alouette-2. Several instruments on

board made direct measurements of selected

ionospheric parameters. The spacecraft was an octagonal prism about 0.7 m in diameter, launched

into an elliptical orbit (500 km perigee and 3000 km apogee). The Explorer-series satellites were covered

in the sixteenth article in this series.

Alouette has been featured on postal items from many

countries besides Canada, but ISIS appears on only one stamp issued by Canada in 2000 (Scott 1831c).

A checklist of postal items showing Alouette

-series and ISIS-series satellites (http://

www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/hil lger/Alouette.htm) is available on the Website

developed by the authors for the un-manned satellites featured in this series of

articles (http://www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/hillger/satellites.htm). E-mail

correspondence is welcome. Don Hillger

can be reached at hillger@cira.colostate.edu and Garry Toth at garry_toth@hotmail.com.

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Bremen—German’s Space City by Bert van Eijck

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United Nations to Commemorate 50th Anniversary of the Space Age

"On 25 October 2007 the United Nations Postal

Administration will issue six commemorative stamps in a mini-sheet format in the denominations of US$ 0,41,

US$ 0,90, CHF 1,00, CHF 1,80, Euro 0,65 and Euro 1,15 on the theme "Space for Humanity- 50th Anniversary of

the Space Age." Three souvenir sheets and a personalized stamp sheet

on the same theme will also be issued on that day." In the UNPA stamp programme for 2008 there will be

issues for International Year of Planet Earth (Climate Change) on June 6. The UN has three major bureaus in

the world: headquarters in New York (USA), UNPA headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland) and a bureau in

Vienna (Austria). Bert v E 25.7.07

Newest Space Participant Signs Photo for Member

Interested in Space Mission Patches ? See this website which has a brilliant detailed

display e.g. Patch below for projected Malayasian cosmonaut…...

http://www.spacepatches.nl/

Soyuz TMA-11 Malaysian astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor

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The Southern Skies—new N.Z. issue from Brian Vincent

Southern Skies was the topic for a set of New Zealand

stamps placed on sale on 6 June 2007. Each stamp

featured a Southern Skies scene and a telescope as follows –

50c – the Southern Cross and the 0.5m Zeiss telescope

(a Cassegrain reflector) at Stardome Auckland Observatory situated on One Tree Hill in the city. This

constellation (Crux Australis) which is visible all year,

features on both the Australian and New Zealand flags; the New Zealand flag shows the four stars making up

the actual cross whereas the Australian flag shows the extra fifth star. The image of the Southern Cross was

taken by John Burt of Gisborne.

$1.00 – Pleiades (or Matariki as it is known by Maori,

signalling the beginning of the Maori new year in June when it rises shortly before dawn) and the 1m McLellan

telescope, Mt John Observatory, Tekapo. This Dall-Kirkham Cassegrain reflector was New Zealand’s largest

telescope until 2004 when the 1.8m telescope was

installed at the site. The image of Pleiades was taken by Mark Cannell of Auckland.

$1.50 – Trifid Nebula (Messier 20) and the 24cm

telescope, Ward Observatory, Cooks Gardens,

Wanganui. This telescope is stated to be the largest

unmodified refractor in operation in New Zealand.

The image of the Trifid Nebula was taken by John Drummond of Gisborne.

$2.00 – Southern Pinwheel, and the 1.8m Moa

(Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) reflecting telescope, Mt John Observatory, Tekapo. This

telescope is also the largest in the world dedicated to

microlensing. The Southern Pinwheel is also known as M83 and NGC 5236, and this image was taken by Rob

Beck of Auckland. It was discovered in 1752 by Abbe Nicholas Louis de la Caille at the Cape of Good Hope.

$2.50 – Large Magellanic Cloud and the 11m Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) in South Africa. New

Zealand is one of the six partner countries in SALT. The telescope is the largest single optical telescope in

the Southern hemisphere.

In addition to the five stamps, a special Souvenir

Miniature Sheet Booklet was issued. This contained five miniature sheets, each one incorporating a

separate denomination and one composite sheet with all five stamps in se-tenant format.

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Mongolian Member has sets of 1981 Gurragcha Covers for sale

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Flight STS-60 Commander Charles Bolden Pilot Kenneth Reightler MS Franklin Chang-Diaz MS Jan Davis MS Ronald Sega MS Sergei Krikalev KSC Launch Date 3.2.1994 KSC Landing 11.3.1994 Purpose / Spacehab Main Payload Wake Shield Facility

Shuttle Story : 1994—STS-60, -62, -59, -65, -64, -68, & -66

The mission was launched on time at 7.10 a.m. EST on 3rd February and marked the first flight of a Russian cosmonaut on the Space Shuttle as part of an agreement between NASA and the Russian Space Agency on cooperation in human spaceflight. The flight was the 60th shuttle mission and marked the return of the commercial Spacehab module to orbit. Spacehab carried twelve experiments, four involving materials science; seven involving life sciences and also a space dust collection experiment. Also on board was the Wake Shield Facility making the first of a series of flights. The first attempt to deploy the Wake Shield Facility was made on flight day three. The free-flying experiment platform was designed to leave a vacuum wake in orbit in which high quality thin film layers of gallium arsenide and other semiconductor materials could be grown. However the first attempt was called off due to radio interference and difficulty in reading status signs on the platform. A second attempt was also called off due to problems with the platform’s attitude control system. The Wake Shield Facility remained suspended from the orbiter’s RMS where five out of a planned seven films were grown. The platform was scheduled to fly again in July 1995. A number of NASA/RSA joint in-flight medical investigations were carried out and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev made use of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) to talk to amateur radio operators in his native country. Conversations between the crew and the US President Clinton and Russian Prime Minister Chernomyrdin in Moscow also took place. STS 60 carried the 100th Get Away Special canister to fly in space and the crew were involved in several deployments from GAS canisters. Six Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres ranging in size from 5 to 15 cm were deployed to aid calibration of world-wide radar tracking systems. The German, University of Bremen’s BREMSAT was also deployed from a GAS canister to measure conditions such as acceleration forces affecting satellites. Discovery's first attempt at a KSC landing on 11 February was called off due to unfavourable weather but a successful landing was achieved later in the day at 2:19 pm EST.

Below a launch and landing cover bearing the mission patch which depicts Discovery's on-orbit configuration. The American and Russian flags symbolize the partnership of the two countries and their crew members taking flight into space together for the first time. The open payload bay contains: the Space Habitation Module a commercial space laboratory for life and material science experiments; and a Getaway Special Bridge Assembly in the aft section carrying various experiments, both deployable and attached. A scientific experiment to create and measure an ultra-vacuum environment and perform semiconductor material science -- the Wake Shield Facility -- is shown on the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) prior to deployment.

(A full mission report appears in the Spaceflight magazine for April 94 Vol 36 pp 131/4 )

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Flight STS-62 Commander John Casper Pilot Andrew Allen MS Pierre Thuot MS Charles Gemar MS Marsha Ivins KSC Launch Date 4.3.1994 KSC Landing 18.3.1994 Purpose / USMEL-2 Main Payload OAST-2

Unfavourable weather resulted in a one-day launch delay with lift-off taking place at 8.53am EST on March 4th. Primary payloads located in Columbia’s payload bay were the US Microgravity Payload-2 (USMEL-2) which included five experiments investigating materials processing and crystal growth in microgravity and the Office of Areonautics and Space Technology-2 (OAST-2) which included six experiments focussing on space technology and spaceflight. A variety of middeck experiments were also flown including Advanced Protein Crystal Growth, Commercial Protein Crystal Growth, Middeck Zero Gravity Dynamics Experiment and Bioreactor Demonstration Systems. The crew also conducted a number of biomedical activities aimed at better understanding and countering the effects of prolonged spaceflight. The fourteen day mission came to an end on 18th March when Columbia glided down on to KSC runway 33 at 8.09 am EST to end a highly successful two weeks of microgravity research. (A full mission report appears in the Spaceflight magazine for June ‘94 Vol 36 pp 187/193)

Above a launch and landing cover bearing the mission patch which depicts the world's first reusable spacecraft on its sixteenth flight. Columbia is in its entry-interface attitude as it prepares to return to Earth. The varied hues of the rainbow on the horizon connote the varied, but complementary, nature of all the payloads united on this mission. The upward-pointing vector shape of the patch is symbolic of America's reach for excellence in its unswerving pursuit to explore the frontiers of space. The brilliant sunrise just beyond Columbia suggests the promise that research in space holds for the hopes and dreams of future generations. The STS-62 insignia was designed by Mark Pestana.

Columbia’s crew for this mission comprised (standing at back (left-right) Charles D. (Sam) Gemar,

Marsha S. Ivins and Pierre Thuot. Seated are Andrew M. Allen and John H. Casper.

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Flight STS-59 Commander Sidney Gutierrez Pilot Kevin Chilton MS Jay Apt MS Michael Clifford MS Linda Godwin MS Thomas Jones KSC Launch Date 9.4.1994 EAFB Landing 20. 4.1994 Purpose / SRL-1 Main Payload MAPS

STS 59 suffered from two launch delays before successfully lifting off at 7.05 am EST on 9th April. On 7th April the launch was postponed to allow for inspections of SSME high pressure oxidiser preburner pumps and an 8 April launch was halted due to unfavourable weather. The primary payload aboard Endeavour was the Space Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1) which included the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C, the X-band Synthetic Aperture radar and an atmospheric instrument called Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS.) Endeavour’s space radar covered over 38 million miles of the planet (20%) and included the imaging of more than 400 sites including 19 primary observation sites in Brazil, Michigan, North Carolina and Central Europe. Over 133 hours of data were collected. The MAPS experiment measured the world-wide distribution of carbon monoxide in the lower atmosphere. Various Get Away Special experiments were flown from a number of countries including France and Japan. STS 59 also marked the first flight of Toughened Uni-Piece Fibrous Insulation (TUFI) an improved thermal protection tile. Several of these tiles were placed in Endeavour’s base heat shield between the three main engines. The mission ended on 20th April at 12.54 pm EDT when the orbiter touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California following three calls off from a KSC landing due to unfavourable weather.

Below a launch and landing cover bearing the mission patch which is dominated by the US astronaut insignia over a depiction of the United States from space. A white line around the bottom of the globe suggests the earth atmosphere which was to be studied during the mission via MAPS. Five stars to the left and nine to the right of the shuttle indicate the mission’s number.

STS-59 Crew photo with Commander Sidney M. Gutierrez, Pilot Kevin P. Chilton, Payload

Commander Linda M. Godwin and Mission Specialists Jay Apt, Michael R. Clifford and Thomas

D. Jones. Image Credit: NASA

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Flight STS-65 Commander Robert Cabana Pilot James Halsell Jr MS Richard Hieb MS Carl Walz MS Leroy Chiao MS Donald Thomas PS Chiaki Naito-Mukai KSC Launch Date 8.7.1994 KSC Landing 23.7.1994 Purpose / IML-2 Main Payload Spacelab

With a mission duration of over two weeks the flight of STS 65 became the longest shuttle flight to date. Launch occurred on time on 8th July at 12.43 pm EDT following a smooth count-down. Aboard Columbia on its second flight was the International Microgravity Laboratory (IML) carrying more than twice the number of experiments and facilities flown on its first mission. The

crew members, which included payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, the first Japanese woman to fly in space, were divided into two teams to perform 24 hour research.

Over eighty experiments from six space agencies were located in the Spacelab module in the orbiter's payload bay. Fifty of these involved life science research including bioprocessing, space biology, human physiology and radiation biology. The Japanese Space agency provided the Aquatic Animal experiment unit which consisted of two independent systems that supported studies of live fish and small amphibians. These contained Medaka fish goldfish and newts. Some of the equipment had flown on previous Spacelab flights such as ESA’s biorack which was making its third flight. Nearly thirty experiments in materials processing were carried out using nine different types of facility. The solidification of materials from a liquid state in containerless environment was provided by the TEMPUS facility while crystals were grown in another facility called the Advanced Protein Crystallisation Facility. The crew took time off during the mission to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, noting it had also featured a spacecraft called Columbia. Aboard STS 65 was an Apollo 11 plaque

Above a launch and landing cover predominantly black with gold and red features bearing the mission patch which relates to the second flight of the International Microgravity Lab, whose initials in red appear at the centre of the design beside two golden stars and chevrons.

which had hung at KSC’s Launch Control Center since 1969. The plaque was returned following the landing of the Shuttle. The mission was extended one day due to shower in the landing area with touchdown occurring at 6.38 am EDT on 23rd July at KSC runway 33. (A full mission report appears in the Spaceflight magazine for October ‘94 Vol 36 pp 338/341)

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STS 64 was launched on 9th September at 6.22 pm EDT after nearly a two hour delay due to unfavourable weather. The mission marked the first flight of the Lidar in Space Technology Experiment (LITE) and also the first untethered US spacewalk since 1984. The LITE experiment which uses laser pulses of radio waves to study the Earth’s atmosphere, operated for 53 hours, yielding more than 43 hours of high-rate data. The experiment obtained views of cloud structure, storm structures, dust clouds, pollutants, forest burning and surface reflectance. Sites studied included the atmosphere above northern Europe, Indonesia and the South Pacific, Russia and Africa. Ground based and aircraft instruments were also used to verify LITE data. On mission day five the SPARTAN-201 free-flying platform making its second flight on the shuttle was released to collect data about the acceleration and velocity of the solar wind and to measure the Sun’s corona. SPARTAN was retrieved after two days of data collection. Various other middeck and payload bay experiments were also flown including a number of Get Away Special canisters. One payload bay experiment called SPIFEX collected data about orbiter reaction control system thruster firings to aid understanding the potential effects of thruster plumes on large space structures such as the Russian Mir space station and the planned international space station. The SPIFEX experiment was a 33 foot long extension to the orbiter’s remote manipulator arm and was deployed in a variety of positions above the nose of the spacecraft and near the left orbital manoeuvring system pod. All preflight objectives were achieved. Carl Meade and Mark Lee spent more than six hours outside Discovery, carrying out a spacewalk in which

Flight STS-64 Commander Richard Richards Pilot Blaine Hammond MS Jerry Linenger MS Susan Helms MS Carl Meade MS Mark Lee

KSC Launch Date 9.9.1994 EAFB Landing 20.9 1994 Purpose / LITE Main Payload SPARTAN-201

Below a launch and landing cover bearing the mission patch which lists crew names with gold or silver stars respectively depicting the astronauts’ military status (Richards and Linenger of the US Navy or Air Force, which the other four served in). The US astronaut insiginia blends into the shape of the orbiter, around which we see two free flying space walkers, wearing SAFER backpacks. On the end of the remote manipulator arm is a depiction of the SPIFEX experiment.

they tested a new manoeuvring unit backpack called SAFER. The light-weight device which was tested by both astronauts was flown as the prototype of a self-rescue device for astronauts who might become detached from their spacecraft. The orbiter was diverted to a California landing following several KSC call-offs due to unfavourable weather, with touchdown taking place at 5.12 pm EDT on 20th September. (A full mission report appears in the Spaceflight magazine for December ‘94 Vol 36 pp 410/413)

23

ORBIT

STS 68’s first launch attempt on 18th August was halted at T-1.9 seconds when the orbiter computers shut down all three main engines after detecting an unacceptably high temperature in an engine turbopump turbine. As a result of this Endeavour was returned to the VAB to have all three engines replaced. The launch was rescheduled for 30th September when lift-off occurred on time at 7.16 am EDT. STS 68 marked the second flight of the Space Radar Laboratory which had flown earlier in the year on STS 59. Notably Mission Specialist Thomas Jones was making his second flight in the year. By flying the radar lab during different seasons it allowed scientists to compare changes between the two flights. Data were collected over the same locations as on the first flight but images were also obtained of an erupting volcano in Russia and several Japanese islands following an earthquake. The space radar on this flight also imaged a planned oil spill in the North Sea in order to test its ability to discern the difference between human induced and naturally occurring ocean film.

Other payload bad equipment included five Get Away Special canisters, two of which held 500,00 of the US Postal Service stamp commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Apollo 11 (as illustrated). Middeck payloads included the Commercial Crystal Growth experiment to study the dynamics of protein crystallisation on CHROMEX-05, the fifth in a series designed to examine the effects of microgravity on plants.

Unacceptable weather in the KSC area resulted in Endeavour being diverted to Edwards Air Force Base in California where landing took place at 1.02 EDT on 11 October

Flight STS-68 Commander Michael Baker Pilot Terrence Wilcutt MS Stephen Smith MS Daniel Bursch MS Peter Wisoff MS Thomas Jones KSC Launch Date 30.9.1994 EAFB Landing 11.10.1994 Purpose / SRL-2 Main Payload

Above a launch and landing cover bearing the mission patch which depicts Exploration of Earth from space as the focus of the design of the insignia, the second flight of the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-2). SRL-2 is part of NASA's Mission to PlanetEarth (MTPE) project. The world's land masses and oceans dominate the centre field, with the Space Shuttle

Endeavour circling the globe. The SRL-2 letters span the width and breadth of planet Earth, symbolizing worldwide coverage of the two prime experiments of STS-68 - The Shuttle Imaging Radar-C and X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) instruments, and the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) sensor. The red, blue and black colours of the insignia represent the three operating wavelengths of SIR-C/X-SAR, and the gold band surrounding the globe symbolizes the atmospheric envelope examined by MAPS. The flags of international partners Germany and Italy are shown opposite Endeavour. The relationship of the Orbiter to Earth highlights the usefulness of human space flights in understanding Earth's environment, and the monitoring its changing surface and atmosphere. In the words of the crewmembers, "the soaring Orbiter also typifies the excellence of the NASA team in exploring our own world, using the tools which the Space Program developed to explore the other planets in the solar system". This STS-68 patch was designed by artist Sean Collins.

24

ORBIT

Following a two year refurbishment, Atlantis lifted off on the final 1994 mission on 3rd November to carry out investigations of the Earth’s atmosphere and the effects of the Sun and human activities on its chemical composition. Primary payloads aboard the orbiter were the ATLAS-3 instruments and the German built SPAS free-flying platform. ATLAS-3 was a complement of six international experiments located on a pallet in the orbiter’s payload bay designed to study the Sun and map the Earth’s atmosphere. The ATLAS missions are planned to fly regularly over a 10 year period to analyse the chemical and physical components of the atmosphere. The free flying SPAS satellite was deployed from Atlantis on 4th November by French astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy. Carrying three infra-red telescopes and other instruments designed to create a three-dimensional map of the flow of gases in the Earth’s middle atmosphere the satellite spent eight days flying in formation with the Shuttle orbiter as it gathered data. Tests were carried out with a middeck experiment called Heat Pipe Performance which involved applying specifically-measured amounts of heat to various heat pipe designs flown, measuring the cooling capacity of the pipes and determining the limits of each design’s operation. The crew found time to perform additional tests beyond those originally planned. These tests were aimed at providing data on cooling systems for the next generation of spacecraft and the space station. Also onboard Atlantis were ten pregnant rats, the first pregnant mammals to fly aboard a US spacecraft and part of an experiment to examine how weightlessness affects foetal development. The successful retrieval of the German SPAS satellite which had been trailing the orbit by upwards of 50 miles for most of the flight, rounded off the mission. The rendezvous with SPAS was attempted using a new method in anticipation of the 1995 Shuttle-Mir dockings. Normally an orbiter approaches its target from the front but on STS 66 Atlantis approached SPAS from below in order to avoid firing manoeuvring jets towards the satellite. On a larger space structure as Mir on the international space station solar panels could easily be damaged by such firings.

Flight STS-66 Commander Donald McMonagle Pilot Curtis Brown MS Ellen Ochoa MS Joseph Tanner MS Jean-Francois Clervoy MS Scott Parazynski KSC Launch Date 3.11.1994 EAFB Landing 14.11.1994

Purpose / ATLAS-3 Main Payload SPAS

Below a launch and landing cover bearing the mission patch which depicts the shuttle launching above the name of its main payload with the trail of its three main engines suggestive of the US astronaut logo. To the right of the Earth a rainbow suggests our atmosphere which was the study of the ATLAS missions and we see the sun which was also studied in the mission through various experiments. Also shown orbiting the globe is the free flying SPAS satellite.

Atlantis returned to earth on 14th November with a wealth of data collected by the atmospherical/solar energy instruments aboard, touching down at Edwards AFB in California. The orbiter had been scheduled to land in Florida but the tropical storm Gordon in the Gulf of Mexico forced the landing site to be moved, the fourth time in 1994 that a landing had to be diverted due to unacceptable weather on the East Coast. (A full mission report appears in the Spaceflight magazine for March ‘95 Vol 37 pp 100/104)

25

ORBIT

If we want to describe the history of the atom from the

early beginning until the present generation of energy

by nuclear reactors on Earth and in Space, we can divide our study into three phases. The first phase

represents the discovery of the atom, the radio active radiation, the conversion of the elements and the chain

fission, as a principle from earliest times but in effect from about 1895 until 1945. With a small overlap the

development of the second phase, that from the atomic

bomb, starts in 1939 and also lasts until 1945. After this year the emphasis is laid upon the peaceful application

of nuclear energy first as a general source of energy, but also for the development of missiles with nuclear

charge.

The Atom (The first ideas about the structure of

matter already date from the ancient Greeks. In the 5th century BC the atomic

hypothesis was enunciated by Leucippos and Democritos.

According to them all matter is built from

small units called ‘atoms’, which are the smallest

particles from which a given substance can be divided. That is contained in the word ‘atom’ which means

‘indivisible’.

At the same time a complete different hypothesis was

formulated by Empedocles, and later on further developed by Aristotle. Both meant that matter

originates from virgin dust called, ‘hyle’ or ‘ytem’, which is equal in all matter. The difference between

substances is caused by the presence – in changing quantities – of certain properties imposed on the ‘first’

substance by the four basic elements: soil, water, air

and fire.

(Aristotle, Cyprus 1978, M493) The great authority of Aristotle probably

is responsible for this theory being

held for over 2000 years. Even in the Middle Ages the Alchemists tried to

obtain this ‘first’ substance from an other substance by eliminating the

four basic elements. Doing so they

thought that they should get other substances by adding the four

elements again to the ‘first’ substance but now in different, the right, proportions.

Only in the 19th century via the work of John Dalton did

the atomic theory appear again. By investigating how

different elements were combining to form chemical substances Dalton concluded that every element

consists of atoms which form the

indestructible and indivisible units of

matter, but differ from atoms of other e l e m e n t s .

Today, knowing that more than a hundred elements exist this opinion

should mean that the universe should contain the same amount of basic

materials, for the time being a

conclusion which is hard to believe.

In 1816 William Prout (1785-1850) came up with a kind of hybrid between both

theories stating that all elements

originate from one kind of atom, the hydrogen atom.

Modern atomic theory is considered to have started in

1789 when the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817) in the mineral ‘pitchblend’

discovered the element uranium. Although he thought

he had separated pure uranium later it appeared it was uranium oxide (see Canadian stamp Y744, 1980).

Finally the French chemist Eugène-Melchior Péligot

(1811-1890) synthesized the first pure uranium.

Antoine Henri Bequerel (1852-1908) (Becquerel, France 1946, M745) In 1896 French chemist Antoine Henri

Bequerel discovered natural radio

activity. And, somewhat before that time, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen

discovered a radiation causing fluorescence, which he called “X-rays”

when he carried out electrical experiments in a high vacuum tube.

A year later, after a discussion with Henri Poincaré, Becquerel decided to compare these X-rays with his

natural fluorescence. In his Paris laboratory he investigated the possibility that crystals of certain

minerals after exposure to sunlight could emit roentgen

radiation. Only one of these samples, a salt of uranium, appeared to have emitted a kind of radiation.

When these crystals, packed in black paper, were

stored in a drawer for a couple of days lying on

photographic paper they appeared to have caused a discolouration of the paper.

The radiation emitted from these crystals, however,

differed from the X-rays and today such rays are called ‘gamma (γ)-rays’.

FROM ATOM TO NUCLEAR POWERED SPACECRAFT PART 1: THE NUCLEAR THEORY by John Beenen

26

ORBIT

Becquerel very soon discovered that such radiation was

harmful to men and badly affected human finger tips.

The Electron (Thomson, Guinea 2001) The transport of electricity through

gases at very low pressures was

studied by a few scientists. As an electrical potential difference of

several thousands of volts is applied between two poles melted in the

ends of a glass tube, from which the

air can be sucked away, at a certain low pressure one sees a greenish

glow, a luminescence, in the tube.

The cause of this luminescence is some unknown

radiation coming from the negative pole, the cathode, and this is why this kind of radiation is called ‘cathode

rays’. The nature of this radiation was investigated by the Irishman Joseph John Thomson (1858-1940) who

studied a series of electrical discharges in a high vacuum tube (discovered by the German Prof. Karl

Braun in 1897). From the deviation of the rays by

electrical plates he concluded that there were particles present much smaller than an atom. Such a particle

received the name ‘electron’ and we now know it has a mass 1837 times smaller than the hydrogen atom. The

electrical charge it carries is the smallest charge which

can exist : every electrical charge is a whole multiple of the charge of an electron. This is an important

realisation in understanding the essence of the quantum theory later on.

(Lorentz, The Netherlands 1928, Y217)

The existence of the electron had

already been predicted by others, including the Dutchman Hendrik Lorentz

(1853-1928) (Y217,1928), but Thomson now showed it in practice.

In 1904 he suggested the atom as a small sphere with a positive charge around which electrons were

orbiting influenced by electrostatic forces — the first representation of an atomic model.

Later it was discovered that there exist also other phenomena by which electrons were emitted such as

the effect when substances, especially earth alkali metals (lithium, sodium, potassium, strontium) were

irradiated by ultra violet radiation, producing the ‘photo electric effect’.

Also the former (and yet again present) radio tubes emit a flow of electrons, as some natural substances

do such as Henry Becquerel discovered. This radiation was dubbed ‘beta (β)-radiation’.

Eventually (in 1903) Becquerel was awarded the

Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery of natural

radio activity.

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923) (Röntgen, Danzig 1939)

But let us go back again to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. He received his basic

education in The Netherlands, studied at

the Utrecht University but passed his final exams in Zurich. Afterwards he

worked at different Universities in Germany, but his most important work he carried out at

Würzburg as a colleague from Helmholtz , Kohlrausch

and Lorentz.

(X-rays, Germany 1995) In 1895 he studied the

phenomena when he sent

an electric current through a gas of extreme low

pressure. On the evening of November 8th 1895 he

found out, working in the dark, that when he wrapped the discharge tube in black cardboard, a piece of paper

covered with a light sensitive material (barium platinum

cyanide) started fluorescing even at a distance of two metres. Serial experiments showed that different objects

placed within the source of radiation had a different effects on the photographic sheet. When he treated the

hands of his wife the same way, he found at the

development of the photographic sheet that the bone structure was clearly visible as well as her ring, but the

flesh much less, so creating the first ‘roentgen picture’.

(von Laue, Germany 1979, Y866) Because this kind of

radiation was still unknown

he called it ‘X-rays’. Later Max von Laue (1879-1960)

showed that these were electromagnetic waves but

with a much higher

frequency than light. Finally they appeared to be identical to gamma rays.

In 1896 Pierre and Marie Curie called this kind of

radiation ‘radio activity’ and synthesized the radio active

elements polonium and radium form pitchblend.

The Curies (Pierre and Marie Curie, France 1938, M433) After a scientific education

at the Sorbonne in Paris Pierre Curie 1959-1906)

finally ended as a professor at the Faculty for Science at

the same University.

27

ORBIT

His primary work was crystallography, where together

with his brother, Jacques, he discovered the piezo-

electric effect.

Piezo-electricity is the property of some crystals to create a difference in voltage when a mechanical force

is applied to the crystal.

The phenomenon is reversible which means that the

crystal will change a little in shape when it is submitted to a difference in voltage. The change will be measured

in nanometers (10-6 mm), but is large enough for a series of applications such as electrical lighters,

gramophone elements, sonar, microphones, micro

balances and ultra fine tuning of optical instruments. The most well-known crystals for such applications are

quartz and Rochelle salt.

Working in the field of magnetism he also found that magnetic effect changed influenced by certain

temperatures. Above a certain temperature some

magnetic materials lose their magnetism. The temperature by which such a phenomenon takes place

still is called ‘Curie point’.

(Marie Curie, Poland 2004) In

1895 he married Marie Sklodowska (1867-1934)

whose origins were Polish.

Together with his wife he worked under ser i ous

conditions on the properties of

radium (element 88) from which they separated 0,1 gram starting from 2000 kg pitchblend. They also

discovered the element polonium (element 84) named after Marie’s homeland.

They further found that the element thorium (nr.90) radiated the same type of radiation of uranium and

concluded that this should have to do with the atomic nucleus of the element. For this type of element they

introduced the name ‘radio activity’ of ‘radiation

activity’. Soon their discovery led to the realisation of unlimited possibilities in energy such nuclei carried

inside, but also their possibilities for warfare.

The Curies also suffered from damaged finger tips and other physical effects because of their work with radio

active substances.

(Radium, France 1998) In

1903 together with Becquerel the Curies received the Nobel

Price for Physics for their work

on radio activity. After the death of Pierre Curie in 1906

because of a fatal accident Marie Curie once again

received the Nobel Price in 1911 now for Chemistry for

her work on radium.

From both Curies there exist plenty of stamps. I myself

have discovered at least 60 of them but undoubtedly there exist many more. Underneath are some:

(Marie Curie, Poland 1982, M2810), (Marie Curie, radium, Poland 1992, M3375,

(Pierre Curie, Cameroon 1986) (Joliot-Curie,

France 1982,

M2347)

Together with her husband Jean Frédéric Joliot (1900-1958) (M2347, 1982) their daughter Iréne Curie (1897-

1956) was active in this field and both received their Nobel Price in 1935. They especially worked on the

image of the nucleus of an atom, which in 1932 directly lead to the discovery of the

‘neutron’ by James Chadwick

(1891-1974) and the ‘positron’ by Carl David Anderson (1905-1991).

(Chadw i ck , Gabon 2001) ,

(Anderson, Guinea 2001) Their

greatest discovery, however, was artificial radio activity. At the

bombardment of boron (a base element with 5 electrons),

aluminium (13) and Magnesium

(12) with alpha-particles, they produced ‘isotopes’ from nitrogen

(with 13 instead of its normal 7 electrons), phosphor (with 30

instead of 15), silica (with 27 instead of 14) and aluminium (with

28 instead of 13). These elements

are not found in nature and decompose spontaneously under

emission of positive and negative electrons.

Later on they worked together on the fission of the uranium nucleus and on the chain reaction and the

conditions for an atomic reactor based upon uranium and heavy water.

Elements table

28

ORBIT

With the approach of the Nazis in 1940 they succeed in

transferring their documents and substances to

England. Joliot was active in the French underground movement ‘Resistance’ and a founder of the French

Communist Party. In 1946 he became the First High Commissioner for Atomic Energy and together with his

wife he constructed the first French atomic reactor.

His spouse also was a Science Professor in Paris and

member of the commission for atomic energy. She was active in the French women’s movement and together

with her husband a member of the World Peace Council.

Sir Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) (Rutherford, Romania 1971,

M3004)

Some of the most important contributions to the better

understanding of the atom and radio activity came

from a man originating from New-Zealand, Ernest Rutherford.

He was born as the fourth child and second son in a family of seven sons and five daughters and studied in

New-Zealand and after a brilliant final exam from 1894 onwards in Cambridge, England under J.J.Thomson.

There he worked on the behaviour of gases treated

with X-rays, the photo electrical effect and reported in 1898 the existence of α- and β-rays in uranium

radiation. In the same year he accepted a job in Canada where he discovered a new gas, an isotope

form radon.

(Soddy, Sweden 1981, M1177)

Together with Frederick Soddy (1877-1956), who came from

Oxford, he composed laws which ruled the convers ion of

radioactive elements and showed

how they could be united into three families starting from uranium or thorium after a

series of conversions all ending with lead. This appeared to be a spontaneous process which started

with the creation of Earth.

The decay or disintegration of such a sequence of

elements is called a radioactive sequence. Such disintegrations can follow quite slowly, but also can be

very quick. The amount of radioactive atoms can decrease quickly but also at a slower rate. The way

such radioactivity decreases is called ‘half-life’ time,

the time by which the amount of active atoms is decreased to half. All radioactive elements possess

their own specific half-life times.

Back in England in 1913 Soddy discovered the principle

of ‘isotopes’ - elements of different atomic weight but still with the same properties. The word ‘isotope’

comes form the Greek words ‘iso = equal’ and ‘topos =

place’, as isotopes are at the same place in the periodic

system of elements (see later).

By the way, it also was Soddy who even before the publication of Einstein’s famous formula predicted that

an atom contains an enormous amount of energy and he stated that if this could be liberated it would change

the world.

Periodic System of Elements

(Berzelius, Sweden 1979, M1073)

Having arrived at this point. for a good understanding it is good to take a trip

into chemistry and the Periodic System of the Elements. By the beginning of

the 19th century the Swedish chemist

Jöns Berzelius (1779-1848) had identified 34 elements, of which at that

time carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and sulphur were the most important. Compared to the

ancient alchemy the instruments were largely improved and application of ‘Volta’s pile’ lead to numerous

electrical methods for investigation of the composition

of substances.

A very fruitful method of analysis was founded on the fact that certain elements give a certain colour to a

flame. From our fireworks we all know the red colour of

the element strontium and the green of barium. Many chemists tried to create order in the newly discovered

elements. It was already clear that there existed certain families with more or less equal properties, such as the

halogens: chlorine, iodine, and bromine. In 1869 Lothar Meyer set out the atomic volume against the atomic

weight thus showing that a periodic function in

properties existed depending on atomic weight.

(Mendelejeff, Poland 1959, M1133) In 1872 the Russian chemist Dimitri

Mendelejeff (1834-1907) constructed a

table, in which he not only could divide the present 60 elements into eight

classes but also could predict the existence of 26 by that time unknown

elements. The present table still

contains 87 natural elements with a stable isotope.

From the atomic number 88 (radium) onwards the

elements become radioactive, and from the element 93 (neptunium) on they do not exist anymore in common

nature, but are man made. In the meantime there exist

one or more radioactive isotopes of every element . The most stable isotope of the most well-known artificial

element plutonium (nr.94) has a half-life time of 82 million years.

29

ORBIT

By radioactive elements, which change slowly (and

sometimes very quickly) under emission of a certain

radiation, their half-life-time can be predicted, the time by which half of the initially present atoms will have

disappeared, or ‘decayed’ in technical language.

Another term important for the understanding of radioactivity is the word ‘electron volt’. In nuclear

physics this word is used in stead of ‘erg’ or ‘joule’.

When a proton or an electron is accelerated in an electrical field it gets an energy proportional to the

potential of the field passed. Thus, an electron volt is just that amount of energy which a proton or electron

gets when he passes a potential difference of one volt.

The Proton (Rutherford, New Zealand

1971) Together with Henry Gwyn

Moseley (1887-1915) in 1913 Ernest Rutherford proved that

every element had its own specific atom number, connected with its properties. It

has been shown that the number of

electrons orbiting around a nucleus forms the most important properties of the atom.

It determines its place in the Periodic System of Elements. Hydrogen which only

has one electron takes the first position,

helium with two electrons the second, oxygen the eighth and uranium is number 92. Atom models sometimes are

subjects on stamps such as: (Japan, Germany 1955 Y86, Belgium/United Nations 1958 Airmail Y35, M1115)

The atomic number also determines also the chemical

properties of an element as all chemical processes are caused by a change of the configuration of the

electrons. The nucleus does not take part of these

processes. The nucleus is only very small, about 10,000 times smaller than the atom as a whole. On the other

hand the nucleus contains nearly all the mass. Hence, the nucleus is the siege of matter and if we want to

know something about the structure of a substance we have to know the structure of the nucleus.

About 1919, mainly via the work of Francis William Aston (1877-1945), it was clear that

most elements were not singular but a mix of different types of atoms differing in weight,

isotopes. When the atomic weights of the

separate isotopes were determined the astounding effect appeared that they were

nearly whole numbers, which could be expressed as a

function of the atomic weight of the most simple

substance, hydrogen. This led to the supposition that the nuclei of all elements were build out of hydrogen.

This hydrogen nucleus, containing one elementary positive charge, got the name ‘proton’ a Greek word

literally meaning ‘the first’.

In 1919 this supposition made by Rutherford finally

was proved experimentally. When together with Moseley using high-energetic alpha-particles he

succeeded in disintegrating the nuclei of certain light elements such as nitrogen. By doing so he released

hydrogen nuclei.

Rutherford concluded that the sole source of these

nuclei was the nitrogen and therefore nitrogen should contain hydrogen nuclei. He suggested that the

hydrogen nucleus, now known as element number one, is an elementary particle. This discovery is

considered as the discovery of the proton, one of the

building stones of the nucleus of an atom. Later it was proved that within this process also oxygen was

released. So Rutherford actually was the first who converted one element into an other.

But now back to Rutherford and his co-operators such as Otto Hahn, who, in 1905-06, was to discover the

fission of the nucleus.

(Bohr, Denmark 1963, M417) In Manchester Rutherford continued

his investigations which led to his

greatest discovery in 1910, the principal structure of the atom. In

1912 he received support from the Dane Niels Bohr (1885-1962) (Y427, 1963), who

rearranged Rutherford’s theory to the— in the

meantime by Max Planck postulated - Quantum theory, which will be discussed later.

(Atomic model, Turkey 1963,

M1864)

According this model an atom looks like a solar

system built from a central nucleus and one or more

electrons orbiting around it at different distances. The nucleus is positively

charged and in its final structure the amount of

electrons is such that their charge is just in equilibrium with that of the nucleus, the whole being electrically

neutral. However, this only counts for neutral basic elements, not for magnetic. In such elements a

surplus of electrons exists.

30

ORBIT

The Neutron and other -Ons (Chadwick, Maldives, 1995) It was only

a few years before Sir James Chadwick (1891-1974) in 1932 discovered the

‘neutron’, thus, entering a little deeper into the composition of the atom.

He proved that the nucleus consists from positively charged protons and

neutrons. Neutrons do not have a charge and have a mass about equal

to protons. By light elements the amount of protons

and neutrons is equal but as the element is heavier, the amount of neutron increases more rapidly until the

level where the nucleus is becoming unstable and is emitting radiation.

This radiation can be alpha(α)-particles, helium nuclei consisting from two protons and two neutrons, beta(β)-

particles, electrons, or gamma(γ)-rays, electromagnetic waves of an extremely high frequency. (In reality it is

much more complicated but that falls outside the scope of this article).

For a further knowledge of nuclear forces it is worthwhile to know that in general α- and β-particles

only possess a minor penetrating effect, but that neutrons by their lack of charge are much more

dangerous as well as γ-rays or, as formerly termed, X-

rays.

(de Hevesy, Hungary 1988, M3997, Use of

radiation at oncology, I r a n )

T h e H u n g a r i a n

Professor George de Hevesy (1885-1966),

later especially known as the forerunner for the use of radioactive radiation in

medicine, was one of Rutherford’s pupils. Together

with the Dutchman Dirk Coster (1889-1950) in 1923 in Kopenhagen de Hevesy discovered also the element

Hafnium (nr.72).

De Hevesy was a pioneer for the use of radioactive

isotopes as tracers in medicine, the effect of X-rays on tumours and other investigations in the field of cancer,

a specialist area nowadays known as radio chemistry.

Rutherford’s work created many more winners of the Nobel Prize such as: Aston (1921); Chadwick (1935),

G.P.Thomson (1937), Appleton (1947), Blackett (1948),

Powell (1950), and Cockroft and Walton (1951); with exception of Aston, who received the prize for

chemistry, all for physics. He himself received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1908.

Rutherford was married and had one daughter. He

passed away on October 9th 1937 in Cambridge and is

buried in Westminster Abbey besides Sir Isaac Newton and Lord Kelvin.

Units and Dose To distinguish the activity of radioactive substances

from each other some units were introduced. The unit of radioactivity is called after the discoverer, Becquerel.

One ‘Becquerel’ correspond with one disintegration per second. Formerly the far greater but very awkward unit

the ‘Curie’ was used, corresponding with the

radioactivity of 1 gram of radium i.e. 37 milliard (3,7*1010) disintegrations per second of emitted

radiation.

But a unit exists also for absorbed

radiation, the ‘Rad’ (Radiation Absorbed D o s e ) n o w a d a y s m o s t l y t h e

‘Gray’ (symbol Gy) (1 Gray = 1 J/kg = 100 Rad), called after Louis Harold Gray

(1905-1965), a British physicist working on radiation biology.

As the biological effect is not alike for every kind of radiation sometimes this is also considered. Fomerly

(and still now and then) this was expressed in ‘Rem’(Roentgen Equivalent Man). For

roentgen and gamma radiation the Rad is

equal to Rem. Today, for the equivalent dose ionising radiation, by which man is

exposed over a certain period, the ‘sievert’ (symbol Sv), has been

introduced, called after the Swedish medical physicist Rolf Sievert (1896-

1966). One Sievert is equal to a received

dose of 1 J/kg and equal to100 Rem.

As we should like to know which are the effects of radiation to man here are examples:

A massive dose at one time over the whole body of 1000 Rad or 10-20 Gray is lethal. This corresponds with

a quantity of about 1000 Joule for an adult. Actually this is only very little energy corresponding with the

energy in 60 mg of sugar.

At 300 Rad one has a 50% chance of survival. During X

-ray, you get a dose of about 50 millirad or 0,05 Rad, but at the radiation of cancer tumours locally a dose

rate of even some thousands of Rads is imposed.

But even without these extreme exposures we get our

daily dose of radiation. In fact the natural radiation is still the most important source of radiation to man.

The yearly amount of radiation which we receive from

the cosmos is about 28 millirad, but at some places on

earth more radiation can be found outside and the

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imposed dose can increase with a factor of ten. Such

areas have been found at Italy (Lazio, Campania) and

France, but especially in India (Kerala, Tamil Nadu) and Brazil (Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais).

(Cosmic Radiation, Macao

2004) Cosmic radiation is responsible for about 7% of

the daily dose we receive.

When we are flying by airplane we receive some additional

amount of radiation from about 0,5 millirad per hour. Astronauts take more risks

passing the van Allen radiation belt in which a larger

amount of high-energy particles are present. They receive an extra dose of between 150-500 millirad.

Further radiation is introduced in our bodies by food

especially over an isotope of carbon, carbon-14 (C14). By the way, for the whole body this is not more than

1,3 millirad per year, but from other isotopes we

receive much more. An isotope of potassium (40K) gives 17 millirad over the whole body and 27 millirad

in the red bone marrow.

Also water introduces some radiation. In normal areas

this is less than 0,001 Becquerel Uranium-238 (238U) per litre, but also here there exist areas where this

can increase to as much as 30 Becquerel.

Almost finally, every day we receive a small amount of uranium, thorium and radium responsible for 0,1

millirad per year in the soft tissue and 2 millirad in the

periosteum (bone membrane).

But still this is not all. There exists a radioactive gas ‘radon’ which enters our homes through the creeping

spaces under our floors. As a matter of fact, this is

the most important source of radiation we receive, about 55%.

The mean received dose by breathing outdoor air is

about 1 millirad in our lungs, but in our houses this

may raise with a hundred times more especially when we ventilate too little.

Also some building products contain radon gas, such

as granite, brick and concrete. Synthetically produced gypsum as a side-product of the fertilizer production

is notorious by its radioactive radium-226 (226Ra)

content. Radium 226 is about one million times more radioactive than uranium and has a half-life time of

1602 year and slowly decays into radon gas. The gas formerly therefore was also called (radium)

‘emanation’.

Via all of these burdens we get finally yearly

something in the region of 100 millirad of radiation.

The radiation we receive from radioactive sources from

our appliances mostly is alpha radiation, from which

penetration is very limited. Most radiation will be kept out by walls or glass in our houses and buildings.

Natural background radiation varies strongly with

location, but as a mean the effective dose for a member of the population is about 1m5 mSv per year. Certainly in

the meantime norms have been set to which radiation

sources have to comply. For our population a yearly burdening of maximum 170 millirad or millirem is set as

a target. But of course for people handling radiological apparatus other limits are in force.

F o r S I - u n i t s o n s t a m p s s e e a l s o : www.ciro.colorstate.edu/ Donald W.Hillger, Metric

Units and Postage Stamps.

Quantum theory Quantum theory (quantum = quantity) is especially important in the understanding of the composition of the

atom. It describes the behaviour of energy and matter at the level of the atom. From the time of the drafting of

quantum theory it was already known that an atom is

constructed from a nucleus with orbiting electrons. With the theory present at that time, however, it was not

understood why these electrons did not circle slowly around the heavy nucleus as satellites do to earth. That

does not happen otherwise we would not exist.

In 1690 the Dutchman Christiaan Huygens supposed that

light was made up of waves. Isaac Newton explained in 1764 that light comprises particles. Since then it became

known that light has wavelike but also particle like characteristics.

(de Broglie, France 1994, M3022) In 1923 Louis

deBrog l ie (1892-1987) supposed that matter

particles showed wavelike

properties which in 1927 was also shown to be the case for

electrons by Clinton Davisson (1881-1958) and Leslie Germer (1896-1971).

I will not go too deeply into the theory therefore I will leave it that slowly it became clear that the wavelike

aspect of such particles referred to the probability of the condition and the position of the particle. Finally this led

to the ‘Uncertainty Principle’ developed by Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976), which explains that the place in

space or its speed can be detected

precisely from a particle but never the two together.

(Planck’s Constant DDR 1958, Y344)

The basis for quantum theory was led

at the beginning of the 20th century by scientists such as: Albert Einstein, Max

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Planck, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger, Werner

Heisenberg, Max Born, John von Neumann, Paul Dirac,

and Wolfgang Pauli.

Especially because of the work of Max Planck (1858-1947)

(Sweden, Y1034, 1978; DDR Y344, 1958) around 1900 it

became clear that wave energy

could be described as consisting from small packages (quanta) of

energy showing particle like properties. The energy is so-to-say divided in packages

and is not a continuous flow.

He studied how radiation emitted by a black body

depended on the body’s temperature. He detected that if he multiplied the frequency of the wave with a

constant he got the energy of the wave. This constant today is called the: ‘Planck’s Constant’ and is expressed

by the character ‘h’ in the formula: E = h . v, in which

‘E’ represents the energy and ‘v’ the frequency. The value for Planck’s Constant is: 6,626068x10-34 m2 kg/s.

By the way, it is interesting to note that Planck did

originate this theory, but he did not completely believe

in it. Einstein was a opponent of quantum theory because it did not fit in his beliefs about the Universe

and also because the uncertainty principle put an end to the fact that in science everything is measurable.

Quantum theory had an enormous impact on our

insight in elementary processes and therefore our

technical skills. A direct result from quantum theory is the transistor, the laser and the electron microscope.

But quantum theory is so complicated for a layman, such as your writer, that for the rest I will keep silent.

If you want to know more about this subject some very

interesting and lucid articles may be found on the Internet:

www.hi.is/~hj/QuantumMechanics/quantum.html Intro to Quantum Mechanics;

And somewhat more complicated: http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics Quantum mechanics. Interesting is also: ‘A postage stamp history of the atom, part II: The quantum Era’, Michael M.Morgan,

www.epossu.org/

Russian Nuclear Physics (Kapitsa, Russia 2000) The work on nuclear materials in

Russia started around 1900 at the Petersburg Academy

of Science. The Revolution

of 1917 increased the attention and at different locations important Russian

physicists worked on the secrets of the atom such as: Kirill Sinelnikov (СИНЕЛНИКОВ) who also worked at

Cambridge and in 1931 started a group at Kharkov. In

1921 Pyotr Kapitsa (КАПИЦА,1894-1984) came to

England and worked in the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge with Sir Ernest Rutherford.

Among other work he carried out the first experiment

with a cloud-chamber and studied the deviation of alpha particles in a strong elector magnetic field. Back in

Moscow he not only worked at this subject but also did

low-temperature research and in 1937 discovered the super fluidity of helium. In WW II he produced oxygen

for low-pressure expansion tubes. After the war he developed heavy microwave generators and discovered

a new kind of high pressure plasma discharge with a

temperature over one million degrees.

Vladimir Vernadsky (ВЕРНАДСКИЙ, 1863-1945) was a scientist with very broad interests working on subjects

such as geochemistry, mineralogy, bio-geometry and crystallography. As a biochemist he created of the term

‘biosphere’.

(Ioffe, CCCP 1980, M5007) Abram Ioffe

(ИОФФЕ,1880-1960) (USSR, M5007, 1980) led a group in Leningrad, which

included Igor Kurchatov (КУРЧАТОВ,

1903-1960, Rossya 2003) later to be director of the Soviet atomic

programme. They studied all aspects of the physics of the atom. In 1932 they

built together the first Russian cyclotron. In later years Ioffe refused the position of the director of the Soviet

atomic bomb and accordingly was relieved from his

post in 1950.

At the end of the thirties different cyclotrons were erected in Russia. But at that same time Stalin’s purges

began and many scientists

disappeared behind bars.

(Kurchatov, Russia 2003) In spite of all this in 1940 the

principle of the fission of the

nucleus was developed as were its possibilities for a

chain reaction. The pressure set by Kurchatov guided the investigations of the Central Asian uranium

occurrences. In 1942 a modest research programme was decided for the development of an atomic bomb

which in 1943 began under Kurchatov. He also worked

on the protection of ships against magnetic mines and tank armature.

Literature Biographies http://en.wikipedia.org/ http://nobelprize.org/ http://history1900s.about.com/cs/people/ http://otto-robert-frisch.biogrpahy.ms/ Otto Robert Frisch http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/ http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/ Yakov Zel’dovich www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/

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www.inghist.nl/ www.germanheritage.co/biographies/ www.th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/ www.strudel.org.uk/ www.elresearch.com/Vataly_Ginzburg www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/ Werner Karl Heisenberg www.mada.org.il/website/ Lise Meitner www.users.bigpond.com/Sinclair/fission/ Lise Meitner www.chemcool.com/biography Henry Moseley www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/ Jean Baptiste Perrin, John Pierce www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/execprofiles/ Dr.Harold A.Rosen www.answers.com/main/ Franz Eugen Simon www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/ Leo Szilard Theory De bouwstenen van de schepping, (The Building Blocks of Creation) Gerard ’t Hooft, ISBN 90 5333 497 1, 1996 De Volkskrant, 6 June 1981 until 12 September 1981, Radiation volume, series of 13 articles and a conclusion to support the broad social discussion on nuclear energy (Dutch), Jacques Visser. http://education.jlab.org/itselemental It’s elemental (uranium, plutonium)

http://nova.nuc.umr.edu/ The history of nuclear energy www.abarim-publications.com/NL/Nqm/artqmrules.html The Uncertainty Principle of Heisenberg www.aboutnuclear.org/ Space history www.anlw.anl.gov/anlw_history/general_history/gen_hist.html Nuclear History www.en.wikipedia.org/ www.energyquest.ca.gov/ Nuclear energy www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclides/uranium.htm Uranium www.geocities.com/rainforest/ The nuclear history site www.hi.is/~hj/QuantumMechnics/Quantum.html Intro to Quantum Mechanics www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazins/Bul;letin/Bull424/Article6.pdf, Stamps of development www.johnstonsarchive.net/ Nuclear weapons www.nuclearfiles.org/ Significant nuclear accidents www.uic.com.au/nip50.htm Outline History of Nuclear Energy www.xs4all.nl/~adcs/Deeltjes/uncertainty.html Uncertainty Principle Treaties www.sckcen.be/ Non-proliferation Treaty May 2005 http://wikipedia.org www.wapenveldonline.nl/viewArt.php?art=580 Focus, The American Peace Movement (Dutch), Ir.J.L.Wieman

New Issues (see listings p 34/5, p 40)

Below Israel (Dec 2006), Italy Sept 2005),

Hungary (May 2005), Norway (Feb 2007)

Egypt (March 2006), Germany (Jan 2006)

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New Issue Guide Noted in STAMP Magazine

(April 06—Oct 07) so no SG nos given Use also “Space” as a search in Tony

Bray’s new issue website www.tonybray.co.uk

Antigua & Barbuda (15.6.05) Centenary of Death of Jules Verne Sheetlet of 4 x $2 depicting posters from films of Verne’s novels : including From the Earth to the Moon Antigua (15.12.06) Luna 9 Sheetlet of 4 x $3 showing Molynia 8K78M rocket, Luna 9 probe and lander and mage of Moon’s surface ASTP link up in July 1975 Sheetlet of 4 x $3 showing various scenes inside ASTP complex Space Station Mir $6 Shuttle Atlantis docked at Mir, Earth in Border 25th anniv of first space shuttle flight Sheetlet of 6 x £2 showing various stages of preparation, flight and landing of Columbia in April 1986 CloudSat/Calipso scientific satellite $6 satellite deployed in orbit. Return to the Moon $6 NASA artist’s impression of new craft in orbit with astronaut, lander and rover in border design Ascension (24.7.06) Exploration and Innovation Sheets of 8 pairs including 2 x 50p for Edmond Halley showing portrait and comet, and map of Atlantic with lines of magnetic variation of compass. Australia (6.9.06) Greetings stamps...including 50c Map of Australia and The Southern Cross 50c Leaping kangaroos and sunset Austria (22.7.05) Signs of the Zodiac (part two) Year of the Rooster 4 x 55c depicting Leo, Virgo, Libra and Cockerel Austria (24.10.05) Signs of the Zodiac (part three) 4 x 55c depicting Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Cockerel Austria (20.1.06) Signs of the Zodiac (part four) Year of the Dog 4 x 55c depicting Aquarius, Pisces, Aries and Dog Austria (24.3.06) Post from Another World. Circular stamp in min-sheet containing tiny portion of a meteorite, depicting it entering our atmosphere over the Sahara desert. Austria (16.2.07) Fire and Earth Provincial Exhibition 55c Earth seen from space Bangladesh (? 12.06) Stop AIDS 10t Red ribbon against clouds and globe

Belgium (19.3.05) Belgica 06 Youth Philately World Championships 5 x 0.44c (in booklet). One of the stamps shows a space shuttle, cartoon-style. Cyprus (Turkish) (6.1.06) 50th anniv of Europa stamps 1.40TL x 2 (within mini-sheet) one of which shows satellite and space photo of Cyprus. Czech Republic (21.9.05) ITU World Summit on Information Society 9kc Satellite and dots. Dominica (10.2.03) A philatelic look at sci-fi. Mini-sheets including illustration of Nazca lines across desert. Dominica (21.6.03) Centenary of Powered Flight Sheetlet (4 x $2) showing Sputnik, Gagarin, manned Moon lanading, Skylab 1. Dominica (7.9.05) Jules Verne One of four $2 stamps shows Space shuttle astronauts Dominica (6.6.06) Viking 1 Mission to Mars 40th anniv of Luna 9 20th anniv of Giotto probe to Halley’s comet All sets comprise 3 designs @ $2 plus S6 minisheet ISS —$6 minisheet Venus Express Orbiter —$6 minisheet Egypt (3.3.06) Solar Eclipse seen from Egypt 30p eclipse over Mersa Finland (14.1.06) 300th anniv of first Finnish almanac 0.65€ Photo of waxing Moon and The Pleiades

France (27.5.06) Holidays 53c Asian woman in hammock in spaceship, moon. Gambia (7.4.03) Astronauts Lost in Columbia shuttle accident Seven sheetlets @ D10 each featuring one astronaut Seven sheetlets @ D15 ditto. Gambia (14.7.03) History of Aviation and Space Exploration Mini-sheet @ D60 showing rocket at launch, Mars Rover Mission with related border illustration. Various sheetlets @ D12, one featuring Voyager 2 and Saturn and Columbia space shuttle. Germany (12.5.05) 150th anniv of Oscar von Miller (1855-1934) 55c Miller with Zeiss projection system for first workable planetarium. Germany (2.1.06) Environment Climate Change and Protection 45 + 20c Hurricane seen from space. Great Britain (13.2.07) The Sky at Night TV programme 1st NVI x 2 Saturn Nebula and Eskimo Nebula 50p x 2 Cat’s Eye Nebula and Helix Nebula 72p x 2 The Spindle Galaxy and Flashing Star Nebula

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Great Britain (1.3.07) World of Invention 72p Tourist Couple with suitcases on lunar surface Greece (16.9.05) Greek Caricaturists and Cartoonists 0.15€ value shows cosmonaut shouting to mountain climbers.

Greece (25.5.07) The Zodiac Set of 12 different values from 2 cents (Scorpio) to €2.27 (Pisces)

Hungary (26.5.05) 25th anniv of First Magyar Cosmonaut 130Ft Soyuz 36 in orbit carrying Farkas and Kubasov. Hungary (30.3.06) Laszlo Etre (1906-1974) astronomer and author 212Ft Portrait, star chart, telescope and observatory. Hungary 6.2.07) 50th anniv of Sputnik and Sputnik 2 350Ft Sputnik and section through Sputnik 2 showing Laika Indonesia (6.5.02) Telecommunications. 4 x booklet pane containing 1000rp x 4, one depicting satellite and dish and another showing Telecom1 satellite over map of South East Asia. Indonesia (17.7.02) 33rd International Physics Olympiad, Bali 2 x 1000rp, one of which includes image of a solar eclipse. Indonesia (7.6.03) Astronomy Sheets of 18 plus 2 labels 1000rp values x 4 showing the Moon, Earth and Mars, Andromeda Galaxy and Bosscha Observatory 1500rp value shows the Zeiss telescope at Bosscha. Israel (8.5.06) The Solar System 6 sheetelets @ 2.50sh showing solar system objects in pairs. Israel (27.12.06) Philately Day Jerusalem 2006 National Stamp Exhibition. Mini-sheet @ 12.00sh include image of Einstein and photo of galaxy in border. Italy (21.9.05) Italian participation in ESA Mars Exploration programme. 0.80€ emblem, probe orbiting Mars and survey diagram.

Japan (3.10.05) 56th International Astronautical Congress Fukuoka 80y Himawari VI satellite in orbit 80y H-IIA launch rocket at Tanegashima Space Centre. Japan (1.2.06) Animation Heroes and Heroines, part 11: Galaxy Express 999 Sheetlet of 5 composite pairs, one of which shows the train departing from outer space. Japan (29.9.06) International Letter-Writing Week 90y Ocean and cosmos : earth from space, star, floating cosmos flowers. 110y Eternity, Mt Fuji, earth from space. Mauritania (16.12.05) ITU World Summit on the Information Society 100um, 370um designs include communications satellites and globe

Monaco (1.3.05) Albert Einstein 0.53€ portrait, E=mc² and galaxies

Monaco (4.7.05) Astronomical Anniversaries 1.22€ Edmond Halley 1.90€ Gerald Kuiper

3.80€ Clyde Tombaugh

Nauru (27.6.06) Exploration and Innovation. Sheetlets of se-tenant pairs including 75c Edmond Halley and telescope on rotational frame. Norway (3.2.06) Centenary of the Norwegian Language Society 6.00kr Comet and related literary text. Norway (6.6.06) Tourism One of the 8.50kr pairs contains an image of the midnight sun. Norway (21.2.07) International Polar Year Mini-sheets within which are images of aurora borealis and space photo of Spitzbergen Peru (18.5.06) Postal Giro payments service 5.00s US $ banknote as folded paper spacecraft. Portugal (3.10.05) The Sun 0.45€ and 1€ both show different kinds of sundial.

Romania (? ? 05) Postal stationery envelops with imprinted stamps 4 x 50L one of which shows a satellite. Russia (16.8.05) The Earth as The Blue Planet Mini-sheet of 6 x 3r including photography from space. Samoa (6.11.05) 30th anniv of diplomatic relations with Republic of China Sheetlet of 4, one of which ($4) depicts Chinese astronauts (Shenzhou 6 flight), capsule and rocket flight. Serbia & Montenegro (10.6.05) International Year of Physics and Einstein Centenary 0.50€ Earth as an atom

0.70€ Einstein and diagram of gravitational field of the Sun

Sierra Leone (1.6.04) U.N. International Year of Peace Mini-sheet 3000 Le x 3 showing doves in flight in front of Earth photo taken from space. Sierra Leone (24.5.05) Jules Verne Death Centenary Sheetlet including 3000Le value showing Michael Arden, the astronaut in From the Earth to the Moon. T.A.A.F. (French Southern and Antarctic Territories) (1.1.07) Astronomy at Concordia Base 4.90€ View of Italian-French base and equipment

Turkey (29.3.06) Solar Eclipse 70k Boy in viewing lasses and phases of the eclipse Tunisia (15.10.05) International Year of Physics

Concluded on back page

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Satellites from a Small Country by Harvey Duncan

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SPACEPORT PUBLISHING…….PRESENTS: Buy the e-book at www.spaceport.co.uk! Available now! Easy purchasing via PayPal for download!

The Challenger Cover Up

The Space Shuttle Challenger accident on 28 January 1986 was not caused by an O- ring failure on one of the solid rocket boosters but by a structural failure of the booster in the region of the semicircular attach ring, which attached it to the external tank.

As Challenger rose into the skies, the right hand booster was shedding pieces from the damaged booster and was fishtailing slightly through the sky - a fact that was clearly recognised by the crew, who had worked out was wrong, were on the point of saving the orbiter and crew but ran out of time. They were within 1 sec of saving the mission with a contingency abort! This is revealed in a book published by British spaceflight journalist Tim Furniss, who was the spaceflight correspondent of Flight International magazine from 1984-2006. “A Life in Space”, an ebook, tells the story of a 12 year-old boy whose enthusiasm for space was fired by Yuri Gagarin’s flight on 12 April 1961. Tim purchased his first copy Flight International in 1962, when the magazine featured a Space Special issue and continued to read it every week. Tim’s ambition was to become a spaceflight journalist and to meet astronauts, visit spaceports and to see launches. He witnessed Apollo, Shuttle and other launches from Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Centre and Baikonur. In 1984 he became Flight International’s space correspondent. His ambition reached its peak, when he was the first British journalist to watch a manned launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in 1988. As he stood on Gagarin’s launch pad 1, Tim remembered with thanks to God for that day in 1961. His inspirational story - like “The Rocket Boys” (October Sky) and “Billy Elliot” – screenplay in progress - is linked with a first hand history of the space age, which began on 4 October 1957, with the launch of Sputnik 1 - from the same launch pad that launched Gagarin - to the present day, including all the main events, including Gagarin, Apollo 11 and the Challenger accident. The official cause of this accident was an O-ring failure, a conclusion made in great haste by the Rogers Commission, which overlooked or disregarded vital evidence but was also not provided with the full information from NASA. Like a good detective story, concerns about the O rings in cold weather were raised by engineers at Morton Thiokol but these were actually a red herring. As Challenger rose into the skies, the right hand booster was shedding pieces from the damaged booster and was fishtailing slightly through the sky - a fact that was clearly recognised by the crew, who had worked out was wrong,

were on the point of saving the orbiter but ran out of time. Dick Scobee and Mike Smith were within 1 sec of saving the mission with a contingency abort! NASA very carefully censored any images that showed what was really happening - unlike the hundreds of views from several angles that were usually published after a launch. The space agency also misidentified the crew cabin falling into the sea, which explained why it took so long to find the fallen seven-person crew, which included the schoolteacher, Christa McAuliffe.

Amateur video coverage seen from the north of the Kennedy Space Centre, clearly shows the right hand booster shedding debris and trailing a third “spluttering” contrail. American aereospace engineer, Ali Abutaha dedicated years investigating the accident but was persecuted and rubbished by NASA, which took all his findings aboard and redesigned the Shuttle - including a fully-circumferential attach ring - which was clear to see on the Shuttle’s Return to Flight in 1989. “No reader could find what you're writing about anywhere else!”, says Ali. “A Life in Space”, the inspiring, amusing, moving, frank, intimate, surprising and feel-good read, can be purchased from Spaceport Publishing as a download on Tim’s website, www.spaceport.co.uk. An outline synopsis is also available on the website. A short biography is also available. Contact details: tim@spaceport.co.uk (+44) (0)1237 477883.

Challenger snippets

….. “messy” contrail coming from one of the SRBs …TV image going in and out of focus …the SSMEs gimblal in an unusual fashion…it has been reported that Challenger hit a “54kt wind shear at T+50s” in the flight... NASA did not launch Space Shuttles into wind shear!…The “wind shear” was the Challenger “zigzagging” due to a breached booster… NASA photo team noticed the third plume seen from New Smyrna Beach north of the KSC and even told the Commission but this was not taken up!.…a private video taken from the north shows an extra trail… the Rogers Commission showed only the final two seconds!...Five key pieces of the SRB fell off during the launch …an airline pilot flying SE said smoke was seen streaming “out of the wall” of the right hand booster… he saw the SRB separation motors fire...who fired them? … the crew knew the SRB was in trouble!!…Ali Abutaha, a dynamics engineer examined hundreds of Time magazine images …some show that the fire started at lift-off and continued through the ascent! …Time never published them!…the crew was obviously aware, used the readouts from the upper cable tray (giving the pressure in the upper segments) and punched the SRBs away - but it was just too late…NASA took six weeks to the find the crew compartment because it identified the wrong object!….Abutaha’s findings were rejected by NASA but the agency used his analysis to change the Shuttle ……. MUCH MORE!!!!.

“A Life in Space” by Tim Furniss, featuring the Challenger cover-up

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Readers Respond

From Bert van Eijck, The Netherlands Dear Jeff,

Browsing through my collection for another Orbit story I found a postal cancel from the Belgian Post for

astronaut Dirk Frimout, who was the leading player in the piece “Apollo 3000—A Rollercoaster in Space,”

published in Orbit no 74 for June 2007. The cancel

illustration below shows the shuttle Atlantis in which Frimout flew in March 1992 orbiting around Earth.

“Viering Dirk Frimout (Celebrating D.F.)” says the text of the cancel from Poperinge, the Flemish birthplace of the

astronaut. The date is May 23, 1992. The Europe 14F

stamp used depicts the satellite Olympus. B v E 5.7.07

From Ian Ridpath, Brentford, Middlesex Dear Jeff,

Your readers might like to know that I have now updated my web page on British Astro stamps to include

the latest Sky at Night releases. The URL is

http://www.ianridpath.com/stamps/stampindex.htm

I have expressed my opinions on several of some of the

designs and I would be interested to hear other members' views. All the best, I.R. 17.6.07

Editor’s note—an example from Ian’s web pages….. 1991 Europe in Space (GB) These four stamps, joined in two pairs, honour the work of European astronomers at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands, where the UK plays a major role. Contributing to the pan-European spirit behind the issue, the stamps were designed by a Belgian artist, Jean-Michel Folon. According to the Royal Mail, they were meant “to set minds wondering about the mysteries of space”. The 22p pair is intended to convey the idea of looking out into space while the 37p pair supposedly suggests someone looking back at us. An eye on each stamp symbolizes

the exploration of space. The abstract nature of these stamps will have intrigued and baffled in equal measure. Stanley Gibbons nos. 1560–1563

2000d Emblem with E=mc², planetary system and warped mesh. United Nations (5.10.06) Coins and Flags Various sheetlets including astronomical images e.g. star and globe in flag design United States of America (3.10.05) The Constellations 4 x 37c showing Leo, Orion, Lyra and Pegasus United States of America (21.2.07) International Polar Year

NEW ISSUES Continued from page 35