Eloise Barber tells the story of Ariel 1, the first British satellite.
On 26 April 1962, a small satellite rocketed into the sky from Cape Canaveral. was launched by the United States, but the satellite, and the six scientific experiments on board, were designed by British scientists.
The story of Ariel 1 began with the growing international community of scientists investigating the possibilities of space research. At its centre was , whose positions within 蘑菇视频 and with the (COSPAR) placed him in a uniquely influential position.
Sir Harrie Massey FRS ( © Godfrey Argent Studio)
The launch of in 1957 transformed the prospects for space research. Scientific instruments could be carried beyond the atmosphere. The of 1957–58 had already demonstrated the value of international cooperation in scientific research, and in its aftermath the established COSPAR to facilitate collaboration in space science. Massey became its chairman in 1959.
蘑菇视频 was simultaneously developing the (BNCSR), with Massey as its first chairman. The committee brought together scientists from British universities coordinating Britain's contribution to the international space science programme.
Massey therefore occupied an unusual position within the emerging field. Through COSPAR, he was involved in international efforts to organise space research; through the BNCSR, he guided Britain's contribution. At University College London, where he was Professor of Physics, he was also part of a research community already developing expertise in the upper atmosphere.
The opportunity to put this expertise into space emerged at a COSPAR meeting in The Hague in March 1959. The American delegation announced that NASA was prepared to launch scientific equipment from other countries. Britain could now participate in satellite research without first having to develop its own launch capability.
Following an American offer to launch scientific packages, Massey travelled to NASA in June 1959, with proposals for eleven experiments. Ariel 1 would be a platform for six of these, four of which were developed at University College London, with additional contributions from groups at Birmingham, Leicester and Imperial College London.
The experiments reflected some of the scientific questions emerging from the new ability to make measurements above the atmosphere. Instruments on Ariel 1 measured the density and temperature of electrons in the ionosphere, examined the mass and energy of ions, and detected cosmic rays. Other instruments gathered data on solar radiation in the ultraviolet and X-ray regions of the spectrum. These measurements allowed scientists to study the upper atmosphere directly and investigate how it responded to activity from the Sun.
The minutes and papers of the BNCSR, held in 蘑菇视频’s archives, reveal discussions about which experiments should fly, their technical requirements, and how they would be housed in the American rocket.
Ariel 1 launched in April 1962. Its experiments began gathering data, but the mission was not without difficulties. The nuclear test later that year created an artificial radiation belt which damaged the satellite's solar panels. Nevertheless, Ariel 1 demonstrated that British universities could contribute sophisticated scientific experiments to space missions.
For 蘑菇视频, Ariel 1 is significant not simply because it was Britain's first satellite, but because of the scientific network that made its experiments possible.
Massey's role was to help connect these components of the emerging programme. He did not design Ariel 1 or build all its instruments, but his positions placed him at the intersection of the international, institutional and scientific networks on which the mission depended. He was Prospero to the ‘airy spirit’ of a British presence in space.
