[meteorite-list] NPA 12-19-1946 Army-CIT Artificial Meteorites Test

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jul 27 12:54:44 2005
Message-ID: <BAY104-F205747F4191DA16B10AA66B3CC0_at_phx.gbl>

Paper: The Port Arthur News
City: Port Arthur, Texas
Date: Thursday, December 19, 1946
Page: 3 (of 26)

Scientists Study 'Meteorites' Shot From V-2 Rocket

     WHITE SANDS, N. M., Dec, 19 (UP). - A group of excited scientists
studied the results today of hurling metal slugs from a rocket traveling
3647.72 miles an hour, 113 miles above the ground - hoping some of them may
have been thrown outside the earth's gravity and open the secrets of travel
between the planets.
     The captured German rocket was launched from the U.S. Army's White
Sands proving ground at 10:13 p. m. Tuesday. Five minutes and five seconds
later it reach a speed of 5350 feet per second and an altitude of 111 miles,
higher than any of the previous 16 rockets fired by the U. S. Army.
     A joint announcement issued this morning by the War and Navy
departments and scientists of the applied physics laboratory at Johns
Hopkins university said the fate of the artificial meteorites was still
unknown.

To Study Photographs

     Photographs taken during the rocket's upward course and after the metal
particles had been exploded into the ionosphere were to be studied by upper
altitude research men. This pictures would be compared with those taken of
the star patterns in the sky for the past few nights to discover if any new
bodies were visible.
     Results of the photograph studies might be known late today or
Thursday, a White Sands official said.
     Although only one man at the launching site said he saw the meteor
shower, directors of the experiment said they believed the mechanism for
firing the metal slugs "functioned perfectly."
     An observer at Bisbee, Ariz., reported he saw three sets of meteorites
appear in the sky over southern New Mexico at intervals which coincided with
those of the firing mechanism in the rocket.

Up to 300,000 Feet

     A device perfected by the New Mexico School of Mines fired shaped
charges from either side of the rocket warhead 10, 80 and 90 seconds after
the launching, or at altitudes of between 120,000 and 200,000 feet. Two
seconds after the ejection, the charges exploded into bits of metal which
were to become meteorites due to their speed.
     Also in the warhead were instruments to measure cosmic ray activity at
the high altitude. The warhead was detached from the rocket and allowed to
fall by itself to minimize damage to the instruments. To help locate the
warhead on the desert, a smoke puff was set to go off 12 hours from the
launching time.

(end)


Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
http://www.imca.cc

http://stores.ebay.com/meteoritearticles

PDF copy of this article, and most I post (and about 1/2 of those on my
website), is available upon e-mail request.

The NPA in the subject line, stands for Newspaper Article. The old list
server allowed us a search feature the current does not, so I guess this is
more for quick reference and shortening the subject line now.
Received on Wed 27 Jul 2005 12:54:40 PM PDT