March 1982:space book reviews

The R.A.E. Table of Earth Satellites 1957-1980

Compiled by D. C. King-Hele, J. A. Pilkington, H. Hiller & D. M. C. Walker, Macmillan Reference Books, 656 pp, 1982, £30.

Judging from correspondence received over the years, this is a volume which has long been awaited.

It is, basically, a reproduction of the tables produced by the Royal Aircraft Establishment in the form of a chronological list of the launchings of satellites and spacecraft between 1957 and the end of 1980, giving the name and international designation of each satellite, its associated rocket(s), together with details of launch, lifetime and other satellite dimensions. Fragments associated with launch and space vehicles which also entered orbit are given, though without details.

If one includes these fragments, then more than 12,000 satellites appear in the tabulated text which is, incidentally, fully indexed!

By the time Sputnik 1 was launched on 4th October 1957, RAE scientists had already made several studies of Earth satellites and orbits, stemming from earlier work in the 1950s from Blue Streak and Skylark. Within a few days of launch, Sputnik 1 was being regularly tracked by a radio interferometer at the RAE’s outstation at Lasham. The satellite’s orbit was determined from these observations and the decay rate used to evaluate upper atmosphere density.

By the time Sputnik 2 was launched, the need for a regular prediction service was recognized. First, this was provided by the Royal Greenwich Observatory but was taken over by the RAE in January 1958.

Readers acquiring this volume will find much of interest. The short introduction not only explains the interest of RAE in satellite observations but also includes a description of orbital characteristics and some of the bases used.

One then proceeds to the tables proper, reproduced from original masters, and which form the great mass of content of the book.

The work in preparing such tabulated data in a form suitable for permanent reference is much to be admired. One can only marvel at the enormous amount of effort which must have gone into the eventual production of this volume.

The Traveller’s Guide to the Solar System

R. Miller & W. K. Hartmann, MacMillan, 192 pp., 1981, £8.95.

Nearly everyone will be pleased to possess a book of artistic impressions like this. The opening picture, Saturn from Tethys, is both beautiful and arresting, though it must not be supposed that only the planets are dealt with - many of the minor worlds which make up the Solar System e.g. satellites and asteroids find their place, including even the ring surrounding Jupiter. As with all artistic impressions, much depends upon the eye of the beholder.