   
Harald Lutz
Gold Mitglied Benutzername: Haraldl
Nummer des Beitrags: 171 Registriert: 12-2001
| Veröffentlicht am Montag, 02. September 2002 - 09:43 Uhr: |
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von Herrn Peter Alway dem Herausgeber des Buches „Rockets of the World“ bekam ich vor einiger Zeit per e – Mail Anfrage einen kurzen Bericht über die Entwicklung (oder besser den Versuch der Entwicklung) der tschechoslowakischen „Sonda“ – Raketen zur meteorologischen Höhenforschung (auf Englisch) zugeschickt. Ich will diesen Artikel den Forum nicht vorenthalten: Sonda S1-S2 In the years following Sputnik, the world saw rocketry as an exciting pursuit. While most nations couldn't hope to launch satellites, they could launch scientific sounding rockets. Small meteorological sounding rockets were particularly attractive to nations and institutions with limited resources. In 1965, researchers from Czechoslovakia's Military Academy of Antonin Zapotocky proposed a series of rockets to probe the atmosphere up to 30 km (19 mi). While this was within the altitude range of balloons, it was the practical limit given the Academy's funds and Czechoslovakia's geography. The Academy called these rockets Sonda. With only small, fast-burning rocket motors available, the Sonda rockets would need two stages to reach high altitudes. Since the Sonda rockets would fly in a landlocked, densely populated country, both stages needed reliable parachute recovery. The rockets needed smoke generators and flash charges to aid visual tracking of the rockets. Eventually the rockets would carry standard meteorological instruments, but they would need new telemetry equipment to beam back weather data. Each rocket stage created or adapted for the Sonda program had its own separate designation, and in theory stages could be mixed and matched as needed. The first Sonda rocket combined the S1 booster and the S2 sustainer stage. Each burned a homogeneous "diglycol" solid propellant (possibly a mixture of nitrocellulose and diethylene glycol dinitrate) in a steel case. The Sonda S1-S2 would not attempt meteorological measurements; its purpose was to give the Academy researchers experience in the techniques for use with larger rockets. The rocket stood 1.77 meters (5 ft, 10 in) tall. Researchers and students from the Zapotocky Academy launched the Sonda S1-S2 >from a rail mounted on a two-wheeled cart. The rocket would take off at an angle of 2-5 degrees from vertical. After 0.91 sec, the booster burned out, and drag pushed it back from the sustainer. Five seconds after launch, when the rocket had coasted to an altitude of 1.1 km (3600 ft), the sustainer lit. Its 0.74-sec burn sent the sustainer to an altitude of 6 km (3.7 mi). Smoke generators on board aided visible tracking, and parachutes returned the rockets to Earth. The Sonda S1-S2 trained Czechoslovakian researchers and students in rocket operations, and proved the techniques for flying larger rockets in tight quarters. The next step was the Sonda S-3, capable of reaching 11 km (7 mi) without a booster. With a booster adapted from military rockets, the S-3 might have flown even higher, but the Zapotocky Academy never attracted meteorological researchers. While researchers built and static-tested a wide range of Sonda motors that could have sent 3.5 m (11 ft, 6 in) tall rockets to altitudes of 30 km, they could not fly them in densely populated Czechoslovakia. The Sonda program ended in 1970. Further Czechoslovakian space research centered on scientific payloads aboard Soviet satellites and sounding rockets. Sonda S1-S2 specifications Weight 8.2 kg (18 lb) Length 1.77 m (5 ft, 9.7 in) Diameter 67 mm (2.63 in) Stage 1 Thrust 2500 N (560 lb) Duration 0.91 sec Total Impulse 2300 N-s (510 lb-s) NAR Designation O 2500 Stage 2 Thrust 1300 N (290 lb) Duration 0.74 sec Total Impulse 960 N-s (220 lb-s) NAR Designation M 1300
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