Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-09-18
continued From First Page

NOAtAuuCu EAVAn EASs oSe
Olifantsfontein, South Africa
Confirmation of the first COM
plete orbit came when the
satellite Checked in" with San
Diego. Calf, at 1885 am
(EDT) and with Blossom
Point, Md, and Cape Canav-
eral five minutes later.
Scattered reports from other
points also were received. An
early one came from a moon
watcher, DR.. John B. Allen, in
Dallas, Tex, who told the As
ISOLATED Press he had picked
up signals on a tape recorder
as it passed south of there on
the first pass around the earth.
By noon all 10 stations in
the Minitrack network Of the
space agency had received
signals and eight had inter-
rogated" the satellite for SCI
entiflc data, a NASA official
said.
Job Called Successful
DR.. John P. Hagen, who as
director of Vanguard from the
outset had tasted disappoint-
ment on eight separate occa-
sions, issued a statement which,
while restrained. did not con-
ceal his happiness.
"All of us in Project Van
guard are proud this morning
to know that we have success
fully completed a job" DR..
Hagen said at Cape Canaveral.
with the DRIFTING Of Vanguard
III, Americas first scientific
space program comes to a close.
Originally charged with the
responsibility of placing only
one satellite in orbit. Vanguard
orbited three scientific satel-
lites. Further, components de-
veloped for the Vanguard pro-
gram are being used in other
projects and will appear in
future space vehicles.
I'VE look forward with eager
ness to the scientific data which
will come from the Vanguard
III satellite"
OF the Is rockets in the VAN
guard program, three were
used in preliminary shots not
involving orbital attempts. one
was given tot he Smithsonian
Institution for historical pur-
poses, eight failed and thIee
achieved orbit. The three that
made it were spectacularly sue
cessful in terms Of long life.
To Share Data
DR.. r. w. Porter, chairman
Of the technical panel on the
earth satellite program for the
United StatesN ICY national
committee, said the scientific
results of Vanguard III will be
shared with other nations. He
said the satellites scientific
name would be 1959-Eta, after
the seventh letter of the Greek
alphabet, indicating that the
satellite is the seventh earth
orbiter to be launched this
year. All were of American
origin.
DR.. Porter called on radio
hams to help scientists gather
important data on X-ray flares.
He sent a telegram to theNAma-
teur Radio Relay League out
lining how this could be done.
Dr.. Homer w. Newell, NASA's
assistant director for space SCI
ences, enumerated the gadgets
which fill the oddly shaped sat-
elite. He said they included an
extremely precise "proto pre-
cessional" magnetometer, two
X-ray detectors, three tempera-
ture sensors to record internal
heat, plus a total of 10 devices
to detect cosmic dust and
meteoric material Of larger size.
Special batteries made of sill
yer and zinc provide the power
to operate the instruments and
send signals on the 108-mega-
cycle radio channel to earth
stations. NASA officials said
the batteries probably will last
for about three months, after
which the satellite will be
silent. ...
To MAP" Magnetic Field
During the period that it is
sending out information, the
satellite is expected to provide
the best picture to date Of the
earth's magnetic field. 1t will
give not only a good map" of
this field, DR.. Newell said, but
also will furnish scientists with
data on magnetic current
rings" above the atmosphere.
The magnetometer, devised
by DR.. James P. Heppner of
NASA and engineers of Varian
Associates of Palo Alto, Calf,
is the reason for the satellites
ice-cream cone shape. The
heart of the magnetometer Ia
a cylinder 212 inches thick and
about 4 inches long through
which runs a copper coil filled
with a hydrocarbon called
hexane.
To isolate the magnetometer