SOVIET BLOC INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR INFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00141R000200380001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 23
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 25, 1999
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 24, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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SOVIET BLOC INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR INFORMATION
October 2I, 1958
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMCE
Office of Technical Services
Washington 25, D. C.
Published Weekly from February 14, 1958, to January 2, 1959
Subscription Price $10.00 for the Series
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This report presents unevaluated information on Soviet
Bloc International Geophysical Year Activities selected
from foreign-language publications as indicated in paren-
theses. It is published as an aid to United States Gcv n-
ment research.
SOVIET BLOC INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR INFORMATION
Table of Contents
Page
I.
General
1
II.
Rockets and Artificial Earth Satellites
1
III.
Upper Atmosphere '
9
IV.
Arctic and Antarctic
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Contemporary Problems of Studying the Earth's Shape
The study of the shape and gravitational field of the earth is the
fundamental problem of geodesy.
In determining the shape of the earth, three fields of geodetic in-
vestigations are available: "statistical" geodesy; "kinetic" geodesy;
and "dynamic" geodesy.
Contemporary high-altitude aerial photography can and does give exact
data and measurements of the earth's shape and gravitational fields. This
field of investigation is called "statistical" geodesy.
Through improving the accuracy of the results of successive "instan-
taneous photography" changes in the earth's shape and gravitational fields
can be studied and determined. This field of investigation is called
"kinetic" geodesy.
The third problem in geodesy is the atudyof. the reasons-behi.ndthe changes in
the' eeLrthb shape. azid gravitational field; the explanation of the observed
field of gravitational anomalies and peculiarities in the structure and
development of the earth's surface. This field of investigation is
called "dynamic" geodesy. ("Contemporary Problems of Studying the Earth's
Shape," by M. S. Molodenskiy, Corresponding Member of the Academy of
Sciences USSR; Geodeziya i Kartografiya, No 7, Jul 58, pp 3-5)
Dobronravov Discusses Satellite Recovery, Lunar Probe, and Manned Space
Fli t
Prof V. Dobronravov, Doctor of Physicomathematical Sciences, states
in an article appearing in Sovetskaya Aviatsiya that the direct develop-
ment of events in the conquest of cosmic space can proceed along two
lines: either the creation of controlled and recoverable satellites and
consequently satellites with pilots aboard, or even the sending of a
satellite must be controlled, that is, it must change its motion accord-
ing to a particular, previously prepared program. Such a satellite must
be stabilized in the sense of the orientation of its longitudinal axis
in relation to the Earth and must have no transverse rotations in rela-
tion to its own center of gravity. It should be stated, says Dobronravov,
that Soviet scientists almost arrived at a solution of the problem of
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stabilization when on 27 August a high-altitude rocket launched in the
Soviet Union reached 450 kilometers and was precisely stabilized, hav-
ing no rotation either around its longitudinal or transverse axes. In
additions to its stabilization system, the satellite must have motors
with fuel reserves. According to its predetermined program, the satel-
lites engines would be switched on at determined intervals with respect
to the locations of the satellite in its orbit. Thus the satellite can
glide down through the entire atmosphere, landing at a previously selected
point on-.the surface of the Earth. ("In Terrestrial Space," by Prof V.
Dobronravov Doctor of Physicomathematical Sciences; Moscow, Sovetskaya
Aviatsiya, 4 Oct 58)
Sputnik I Anniversary Observed in Soviet Press
The anniversary of the launching of Sputnik I is observed in Pravda
and Izvestiya with full page articles, some of which are written by
leading Soviet scientists.
L. Sedov, Academician, Academy of Sciences USSR, reviews the historid
launchings'of the three Soviet satellites and goes on to say that the
time is not far off when rocket craft with human crews will be launched
into interplanetary space and onto other planets. is cert a n, says YRG HT
ov, "that up to this time, interplanetary y
PYR era g research laboratories will be made. Equipped with t e most
modern radio and television apparatus, they will be able to tr emit the
result of experimental investigations of the Moon, Mars, and nus,
perfo d by complex instruments back to Earth. These instrum is will
be sto d in special containers launched with the aid of rockets. Modern
develo ents of. rocket engineering fully allows us to speak of all of i.'.
this a realizable in the very near future. ...Man's culture Is entering
into a ew phase of its development. At present, it is still difficult
to predict what the prospects are and what discoveries lie she . One
thing clear, and that is that further great successes are p ssible
only i a condition of peace between nations and that the raps tempo of
the development of astronautics and the realization of comple great I
rocket of the future will require international cooperation." ("Cosmic C PYRG HT
Laboratory," by L. Sedov; Moscow, Pravda, 3 Oct 5 CPYRGHT
Academician V. Fesenkov, Institute of Astrophysics, Academy of :.:.~.
Sciences Kazakh SSR, regards the creation of Sputnik I as the notable
start of a new era. For astronomy, he says, the event opened the pos-
sibility of gradually transferring investigations into ?cosniic space and
with it the elimination of the serious disturbances of the terrestrial
atmosphere which frequently render the most powerful and modern apparatus
completely useless. It is certain that in the very near future, flights
around the Moon, Mars, and other planets of the solar system will be
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possible. To do this, it is only necessary to increase the power of the
flight of the elliptical orbit around the Earth by two times. To hasten
the day of astronomy's greatest development, Soviet observatories must
be able to use the flights of artificial Earth satellites in the interests
CPYRGH "The systemati
methods is of great
that an extremely a
velo2ity of the mov
positions] was deve
CPYRGHT
observation of satellites using the most precise
importance. At this point, it should be indicated
curate method for determining the location and
ents of satellites by means of "tying-in" [to star
oped, for instance, in the Mountain Astrophysical
Observatory of the a
and his " ("New Epoch)" Academician V. Fesenkov; Moscow,
Izvestiya, 4 Oct 58)
CPYRGHT
Academician A. Lebedev, regards the launching of the satellites as
the opening of a door on a fantastic world. The time is not too distant
when "laboratories" similar to and possibly even more perfected than
Sputnik III will begin flying to the Moon and to the more distant planets.
The expenditure of much labor and inventiveness is necessary to create
instruments which would ensure obtaining necessary information, and to
devise methods for their automatic operation in the laboratory (satel-
lite) flying at enormous speed through space. It is also necessary to
consider that in the cosmic laboratory, which continuously and rapidly
rotates around its own axis, there is no gravity. For maintaining the
necessary temperature and providing a long-lasting source of power for
the electrical equipment it is possible to depend on solar energy alone.
One of the problems which can be solved only by raising instruments to
the upper boundary of the atmosphere is the study of the far ultraviolet
and X-ray regions of the solar spectrum. The all-around study of the
processes originating on the Sun is a problem of paramount value, as the
role played by solar radiation in life on Earth is enormous. ("Door to
A Fantastic World," by Academician A. Lebedev; Moscow, Izvestiya, 4 Oct
58)
The true conquest of space can come only with man's entrance into
the cosmos. The problem is widely studied in the world of science.
First must come a knowledge of the effect a number of unusual factors --
G-stress, dynamic weightlessness, cosmic radiation and solar radiation --
will have on the human organism. For the solution of these problems
scientists are depending on a young, but rapidly developing, science --
space medicine.
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One of the problems faced by this science is connectect with the
necessity of safeguarding man from low barometric pressure and the
lack of oxygen in the upper layers of the atmosphere. This can be done
with hermetically sealed cabins and in the event of the cabin's rupture,
with special space helmets and so-called high-altitude pressure suits.
Manned rocket flights will use hermetically sealed cabins. On short
flights, oxygen will be supplied by means of reserve tanks, and on long
flights, it will be possible to use different chemical substances,
capable of absorbing carbon dioxide and moisture. For the future, it
is also considered possible to use plants and microorganisms for this
purpose which will absorb excess carbon dioxide and produce the necessary
quantity of oxygen. Thus, science at present can see no principal
difficulties it is necessary to overcome to ensure man's sojourn into
cosmic space. However, for an engineering solution to this problem,
there is still much work to be done.
The solution of problems of cosmic flights is connected with a
certain risk for human life and, therefore, the first stages of the
investigations are conducted with animals. Tests with dogs showed
that the vital activity of animals at very great altitudes could
ensure with the use of hermetically sealed cabins of space suits.
Along with this is the problem of rescuing animals in case of
danger during the flights. Animals fitted with space suits were ejected
from rockets and lowered by parachutes from altitudes of 75-80 and 40-
50 kilometers in these experiments. All animals were landed safely.
The most notable deviation in the functional state of the animal's
organisms'occurred when the rockets gathered speed, that is, when G-
stress acts on the organism.
The effects of G-stress on man during rocket flights deserve special
attention. Certain conclusions can be made here in this connection. If
a man is placed in a rocket so that his head is in the direction of the
forward motion of the rocket, he experiences the forces of a longitudinal
G-stress directed from head to foot. If this force exceeds gravity (on
Earth) by 4-5 times, and lasts more than 20-25 seconds, then the passenger
of the rocket experiences a whole series of changes in his organism.
In these cases a man's motions become somewhat uncoordinated, certain
displacements and deformations of the internal organs occur as a result
of which their normal activity is disrupted, the functional state of the
nervous system is changed, changes in the circulation of the blood appear,
etc. As a result of the disruption of the circulation of blood in the
brain and the insufficient supply of blood to the eyes, his vision can
be disturbed. The eyes may dim, the sensation of a gray or black film
before the eyes and even the loss of sight may occur. With a longer
lasting G-stress action, partial or complete loss of consciousness is
possible.
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There is, however, a means of preventing these unfavorable after-
effects. First of all, before flying, a man must undergo preliminary
ground training.
Special anti-G suits will play a large role in the struggle against
the harmful action of G-stresses. These suits have rubber chambers filled
with compressed air in the region of the stomach, hips and legs. Compress-
ing the blood vessels in the lower part of the body, the suit prevents
the accumulation there of blood and decreases disturbances of blood circula-
tion. The amount of pressure in the suit's chambers is regulated by a
special automatic device and always corresponds to the amount of G-atress.
The possibilities of such suits are, however, limited.
There is another method of combating the effects of G-stress,! Man-can
best withstand G-stress acting in a transverse direction, i.e., from chest
to back. In this case, no substantial disturbance in the blood supply
of the organs and the tissues arises since the displacement of blood will
be insignificant. Therefore, during the rocket's acceleration its paso
senger must be placed in a special chair with a hinged back, in a semi-
prone position. Such a posture will enable him to withstand a load of
10-12 Gs for several minutes.
The weight of a body decreases as its altitude above the Earth in-
creases. At 100,000 kilometers from Earth, a body is almost weightless.
This same condition will be encountered by man during the circular motion
of a rocket ship around a planet.
The effects of weightlessness on a living organism are studied out-
side the Soviet Union and inside it by different methods. During the
flights of rockets to altitudes of 100 and 200 kilometers it was possible
to study the conduct of organisms in conditions of weightlessness which
continued for several minutes. The flight of the dog Layka in Sputnik
II made it possible to obtain preliminary data on the state of a living
organism during a long period of weightlessness. Weightlessness did not
cause any substantial and persistent changes in the state of the animal's
physiological functions. It is possible to make this conclusion, that
life during weightlessness is fully possible; that gravity is not a neces-
sary condition.
In solving the problems of weightlessness only the first steps have
been taken. However, on the basis of data already at hand it is safe to
say that it does not present an insurmountable barrier to the life and
activity of man during cosmic flights. ("Man Before the Start Into the
Cosmos," Ye. Yugov and A. Serov, Candidates of Mfsaicil Sciences; Moscow
Izvestiya, 4 Oct 58)
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Some results of the investigations conducted with the aid of Sputnik
III are presented in a 5 October Pravda article. The majority of this
material is a review of previously reported information. Several pictures
are included in the article, showing an ionization manometer and direct
current amplifier, a mass spectrometer and electron unit, and a magneto-
meter with an orientation node. (!'Discoveries Widening the Knowledge of
the Universe,"; Moscow, Pravda, 5 Oct 58)
Soviet Professor Believes "US is Behind" CPYRGHT
"The power of the Soviet rocket which launched the third sputnik is
00 times greater than that of rockets used for the same purpose b the
US," stated Professor Pokrovskiy, Soviet rocket (fusses a reaction)
specialist, during a press conference in Moscow on 26 September.
Stating that the USSR has made enormous progress in rocket techniques
since the launching of its first satellite on 4 October 1957, Professor
okrovskiy questioned the aptitude of the Americans for reaching the
uon using their present rockets. "In this field,," he said, "the US does
!'Soviet Pro-
fhssor Believes US is Behind"; Paris, L'Humanite (Com), 27 Sep 58) CPYRGHT
Satellite Photographic Observations With,Maksutov Telescope
Tests for observations of artificial eaeh satellites using a 50
centimeter Maksutov telescope (F = 120 cm; D:F 1:2.4) were conducted
at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Academy of Sciences Kazakh SSR.
Shifts of the satellite's track were made by oscillations of a plane-
parallel glass plate located before the correcting lens of the telescope.
The oscillations have a period of one second and an amplitude of 3-4
The images of the stars and the satellite's track are shifted by 0 'SHAH- _l
h.a, where n is the index of refraction, h is the thickness, a is the n
oscillation amplitude. The oscillations of the plate are carried out
by an electromagnet connected in series into the circuit of the contact
chronometer and the chronograph. The tests gave star tracks of 6 m at
a velocity of motion of 10 per second (Ilford HP-3 plates). The accuracy
of timing was ti O005. For greater accuracy it is suggested that the
chronograph be replaced by an oscillograph. ("Organization of Fhotp
graphic Observations of Satellites and Rockets on the 50 cm Meniscus
Maksutov Telescope," by D. A. Rozhkovskiy; Astron. tsirkulyar, No 187,
Dec 1957, pp 3-4, from Referativnyy Zhurnal, Astronomiya i Geodeziya..
No 8, Aug 58, Abstract No 5233)
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Some Results of Satellite Observations
The mean value of the density of the atmosphere at the perigee
altitude of an orbit (226-228 kilometers), which proved to be equal to
3/10,000th of a gram per cubic meter, vas determined by analysis of the
braking of Soviet artificial earth satellites. This value is approximately
five to ten times greater than values used earlier in a number of models
of the atmosphere.
Significant results were obtained according to the study of the propa-
gation of radio waves through the ionosphere,, that region of the upper at-
mosphere consisting of ionized atoms and molecules. In addition, the
extralong-range propagation of radio waves for distances exceeding the
limits of direct visibility were noted. The phenomenon of a circumterres-
trial echo was even noted.
It was successfully established that the concentration of positive
ions in the daytime at an altitude of. 790 kilometers is approximately
160,000 ions per cubic centimeter, and at an altitude of 240 kilometers,
500,000 ions per cubic centimeter.
A wide program of investigations in the region of cosmic radiation
was carried out by Sputnik I and II. A new radiation, apparently con-
nected with the structure of the Earth's magnetic field, was discovered.
The intensity of this radiation was very great. The number of particles
in such flows exceeds the number of particles in the flows of cosmic rays
by thousands of times. Thus it appears that the Earth is enveloped as
if by an aureole of charged particles retained by the magnetic field.
("Reported by the Satellites," Moscow, Izvestiya, 1+ Oct 58)
Sakhalin Satellite Observation Station
The most eastern Soviet station engaged in observations of artificial
Earth satellites was created under the Chair of Physics of the Yuzhno-
Sakhalinsk Pedagogical Institute. The station is headed by Konstantin
Kan, Candidate of Technical Sciences.
The station's duties consist of recording satellite coordinates and
the time of the satellite's passage through these same coordinates. This
information Aids in more precisely determining the motion of satellites
according to given orbits, and to predict their course. They also give
rich material for explaining the density of the atmosphere, the force
of gravity, and other laws and phenomena.
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The station is equipped with AT-1 telescopes, mine compasses, timers,
tape recorders and other instruments. Despite the frequent fogs, rain,
and almost continuous cloudiness on Sakhalin, 64 observations on satellites
have been successfully made since the launching of Sputnik I.
At present, the scope of observations has been expanded and includes
the recording of changes in the brightness of satellites and also track-
ing their motion on photographic film. The station develope:a a method
of fixing the moment of change in the brightness of a satellite with an
accuracy of up to one tenth of a second. Seventeen observations of Sputnik
III carrier rocket have already been made by this method, during which
654 moments of the change in its brightness were recorded. ("The Most
Eastern Artificial Earth Satellite Observation Station"; Moscow, Sovet-
skaya Aviatskiya, 4 Oct 58)
The use of miniature cameras in photographing Sputnik II is revealed
in a Chinese Communist periodical. Thirty-four photographic observations
of Sputnik II were made during the period from 18 December 11957 to
18 March 1958 by the Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanking. Exposure times
were recorded on a chronograph. Exposure time was usually about 5 seconds.
It was found that star images up to almost the 8th magnitude could I-be',
obtained on Kodak Tri-X film.
Most of the observations were made in Nanking ( = 7h 55m 17s.02 E.
320 03' 59"?9), and some were made in Chenkiang ( = 7h 57m 45s
.5 E, 40z320 12' 20"), a town about 50 kilometers northeastof Nanking.
1
The results of the observations are listed in Table 1, giving the num-
ber of the observation, Greenwich time, local sidereal time, right ascen-
sion, declination, and place of observation. The purpose of conducting
observations from two neighboring towns was to determine the parallax of
the satellite directly. The result of this determination. is given in
Table 2.
Seven circular orbits were derived from the observations. `nose are
tabulated in Table 3. The determination of elliptical orbits on the basis
of these observations was impossible due to the shortness of the are
observed. The article states that it is hoped that the orbital elements
e and (A) would be obtained if the satellites parallax could be accurately
determined from two widely separated groups of observation stations,
one near the northern border of China and one ?ear the southern border.
("Photographic Observations of the Second SovJ.