For this issue of Space Lists there is a collection of information on space projects and military rocketry. First there is a complete list of all the satellite launches for the year 2004. The number of launches is the lowest since 1961 and reflects increasing reliability of satellites combined with reduced ex-Soviet activity.
The three launchers of the Japanese "H"-series are detailed, with each mission shown for the H-1, H-2 and H-2A rockets. Payloads and orbits are included.
Our guide to American rocket and missile projects covers the letter "C" this time, and is the biggest section so far documented in this series.
There is one Space Diary for this issue, that for 1983. Lionel Butcher has provided a most useful quick-look listing of Space Probe Discoveries, showing spacecraft results between 1958 and 2004.
The final list for this issue is a repeat of the THOR-DELTA list first used in Space Lists No9, but is updated with much more information. The first 100 are listed for this US satellite launcher which now total over 300.
The biggest section in this edition of Space Lists is devoted to the THOR-DELTA, later called DELTA, and lists launches from the 101st to the 300th. Also listed are the Marks and serial numbers for each type of this important satellite launcher. The list continues from issue no 31.
Part 5 of the Manned Spaceflight series, that of John Glenn's flight in 1962, starts off this issue, while details of the payloads of all Space Shuttle flights is given, together with payload weights, where these are known.
The Space Diary for year 2001 is documented, while the Nuclear Tests made by both the UK and China are listed. By coincidence both countries have conduced 45 tests each.
More Satellite Names are given, as additions to already published data. The listing now provides some date information, where this is known. Finally, Soviet Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines are listed, with the earliest being 1928, while the latest engines are being marketed for satellite launchers in several other countries.
Several space launch vehicles are detailed in this issue of Space Lists. Flight history for the Indian PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) up to 2005 from its 1993 debut are listed together with a description of the stages employed in the launcher. The first stage uses the third largest solid motor in use around the world.
The American IUS (Inertial Upper Stage) had its last flight in 2004, so all 24 flights are detailed. This huge two-stage propulsion unit was needed to raise payloads from LEO to geosynchronous orbit, or beyond.
Europe's big launcher, ARIANE-5, has its flight history listed, beginning with the first in 1996. Also a detailed listing of the stages with weights and performance are given, including the Baseline-ARIANE-5 which was eventually modified to form the ARIANE-5G version used for the first flights.
The largest article in this issue is that of US liquid propellant engines. The thrust figures are given in pounds-force as most US engines are designed using these imperial units rather than metric systems. Rocket engines are listed from the 1930s through to the most recent types, but this list is intended as an interim listing as some names and details have come to my attention even since publication.
Another space launch listing is that for SEA-LAUNCH flights beginning with the first in 1999. To take full advantage of the Earth's rotation, the Russian J-2/ZENIT-3SL rocket is fired from a converted drilling rig which travels to the equator, mid-Pacific Ocean, from its Boeing-managed home base at Long Beach, California.
The Space and Missile Diary for 1983 is given, and this is followed by a list of the most recent DELTA launches to complete the listing from Space Lists No 32.
For this special issue of Space Lists we have detailed rocket and missile projects of Germany. Over 250 rockets, missiles, people and places are covered with almost half of the entries covering the 1939-1945 war period.
During the Second World War many types of rocket weapon were developed or tried out laying the foundation for missile industries around the world. Most of this early work was conducted in very difficult conditions, but quality control, especially of rocket propellants, remained high.
Many liquid propellants were synthesised in large quantities and the production of liquid oxygen was carried out on an industrial scale, while alcohol was fermented from potatoes. Hydrogen peroxide was also of huge importance and techniques for mass production were mastered. With solid propellants, the big break-through was with diglycol-dinitrate which was extruded or pressed into the shapes need for burning in solid motors. During the war more advanced solid propellants were also developed, which were less sensitive to pressure variations.
Post war missile development continued after the ban for such work was lifted on 22 October 1959. The COBRA anti-tank missile, already some way toward operational use was developed with a company in Switzerland.
Many of the larger projects are detailed in Part-2 of this work, and this issue covers all projects in a chronological manner, all in the 20th Century, except Germany's first rocket experimenter, Friedrich von Geissler who used some large solid rockets in the 17th Century.
This issue of Space Lists covers in more detail some of the German rocket and missile projects mentioned in Part One. At the end of these sections are detailed tables of German Liquid Rocket Engines, their propellants, and Solid Propellant Motors.
Still to come in another edition, will be detailed sections on Hermann Oberth, Arthur Rudolph, the Me-163A and B, the X-1 and X-4 missiles, the OTRAG systems, the Magdeburg-Startgerat, the MISTEL craft, the Mittelwerke underground factory and Sanger's Antipodal-Bomber and Sanger-Spaceplane.
To continue the theme of German rocketry of Space Lists Nos34 and 35, this issue contains the complete list of Me-163A and -163B rocket aircraft of the Second World War. An article giving all the flights of these remarkable aircraft will follow in the next addition.
Also presented is the complete list of manned spaceflight with crew lists given from the first to the most recent.
We continue with our listing of American rocket and missile projects, here with the letter G, and in addition give all the flights for the GOOSE.
Another of the ex-Soviet satellite launchers is detailed, the START, and show an ICBM conversion for more peaceful purposes.
A new listing appears here for the first time. It lists all satellites with the initial letter N, and gives data on the launches, weights and rocket launchers used. There are more satellite name additions with their meanings, countries and launch dates, then finally all flights with the TRANSTAGE upper stage are given.
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