Evening star., 1957-12-26

one ana OEe-natI tlMeS HOtteF
They have built machines
conditions encountered at IS
times the speed Of sound
roughly l0000 miles per hour.
They have developed guid-I
ance instruments which navi-
gate without reference to any
point on earth. instruments so
sensitive that the weight Of q
lint speck from a polishing cloth
viii spin them Of course by
several degrees.
There apparently are we'll
founded reports that the
Sperry Ggroscope Co. Of Great
Neck. N. Y. has produced a
device known as the accelerom-
eter which can detect-and
correct ~ q deviation in the
flight path Of q missile Of one
hundredtll of one degree.
This means that. . missile
fred at tlhe moon some 23s. .0e0
miles away would hit a target
no longer than q football field.
Guidance Problem Solved
Flfrthsrt these instruments
are sturdy enough to be packed
inside q missile which acceler-
ates at rune times the force Of
gravity.
From. the military standpoint
two majpr problems have had
to be mastered:
!. How to guide a missile
from point A to point B 5000
miles or more distant with near
pinpoint accuracy.
2. HosxT to bring back an OBJ
ject ranging from 500 to 1000
miles in space without having
it burned to q cinder by at
mospher ic friction.
3. Pos sibie methods Of evad-
ing anthmissiles. perhaps using
skip courses or deviations from
the normal ballistic trajectory
course as it flies toward It's
target.
To solve the first problem
ct least Observation-Disclosures
have taken the eyroscope.
which employs the principles
Of the universe. and incorpo-
rated il into the navigation
system known as 'inertial
euidancA"
With this systema missile,
an aiYlolane. a ship or sub
marine can be directed to It's
destina ton without compass.
radio or radar and without a
glimpse Of earth. sun or stars.
The solution to the second
problem; involved an almost in
crediblei search for a material
and How to shape that ma.
terial once found-which had
the ability:
To Withstand the schock Of
firing. TO enter the minus 100
degree cold of space without
cracking. To Withstand tenn
peratDtes Of $1,000 degrees
Fahreriheit-one and one half
times hotter than the suns
surface-without burning up.
Special Compound Developed
In sFriving at solution the
scientists developed a highly
secret ceramic and metallic
dust compound and an equally
secret shape.
Navigation by gyroscope long
has bern known. In fact, Sper-
ry which pioneered in this field
was experimenting with drone
planes for use as aerial tor
pedods' back in 1915. The planes
were guided by a gyroscope
In essence the principle OF
the gyToscope is as old as the
world. Indeed, the world is a
gyroacope.
The world spins on It's axis
with an equatorial speed of
1000 miles per hour plus. This
centrifugal force keeps its axis
PORTED TO within one degree
Of the north star.
One property OF the gyro-
scope Is that called preces-
sion. 1t occurs when a force
tries TO change the direction
OF tive spinning axis. In the
case, OF the earth, procession
Is cdused by the of f-center pull
Of the suns gravity. The force
Of the earth's spin. however,
keeps the axis eternally in line,
Ii brief. a gyroscope can
be given enough spin to keep
its axis In q fixed position. II
your want to change the direc-
tom Of an object, you simply
chatlge the axis Of the eyro-
scope.
The new inertial guidance
sysdsm employing the gyro-
ecoHe was first announced last
April 10 by the Massachusetts
: Institute Of Technology. II
was largely the work Of Or,