Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Glossary of abbreviations in text and annexes
- Glossary of abbreviations in appendices
- Preface
- 1 The scientific background
- 2 The technical background
- 3 The initiation of the Skylark rocket programme – the IGY and artificial satellites
- 4 Post-IGY developments – NASA – COSPAR – British National Committee for Space Research – British satellite experiments
- 5 The Ariel programme
- 6 The European Space Research Organization
- 7 Commonwealth co-operation in space reseach
- 8 Smaller rockets for scientific purposes – Skua and Petrel
- 9 Attitude controlled Skylark rockets
- 10 The Trend Committee and the Science Research Council
- 11 The transformation of ESRO into ESA
- 12 The Space Science Committee for Europe
- 13 Scientific studies by British space scientists – figure of the earth and the neutral atmosphere
- 14 Scientific studies by British space scientists – the ionosphere, the magnetosphere and cosmic rays
- 15 The contribution from British space scientists to astronomy
- 16 Concluding remarks
- Appendices
- Annexes
- Notes
- Index
1 - The scientific background
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Glossary of abbreviations in text and annexes
- Glossary of abbreviations in appendices
- Preface
- 1 The scientific background
- 2 The technical background
- 3 The initiation of the Skylark rocket programme – the IGY and artificial satellites
- 4 Post-IGY developments – NASA – COSPAR – British National Committee for Space Research – British satellite experiments
- 5 The Ariel programme
- 6 The European Space Research Organization
- 7 Commonwealth co-operation in space reseach
- 8 Smaller rockets for scientific purposes – Skua and Petrel
- 9 Attitude controlled Skylark rockets
- 10 The Trend Committee and the Science Research Council
- 11 The transformation of ESRO into ESA
- 12 The Space Science Committee for Europe
- 13 Scientific studies by British space scientists – figure of the earth and the neutral atmosphere
- 14 Scientific studies by British space scientists – the ionosphere, the magnetosphere and cosmic rays
- 15 The contribution from British space scientists to astronomy
- 16 Concluding remarks
- Appendices
- Annexes
- Notes
- Index
Summary
The growth of space science in the United Kingdom naturally depended very much on the scientific and technological background in the country in the years just after the Second World War. It was a fortunate fact that, by 1953, while there were a number of scientists whose research work would be greatly expanded if space research techniques became available, technological progress through defence requirements had proceeded to a stage where it could be utilized successfully. Once these possibilities became apparent to the scientists and arrangements made so that they could be realized, space science developed rapidly. The story of the way this occurred, involving many fortuitous circumstances, and of how British space science has developed to the time of writing, forms the subject matter of this account.
Ionospheric research in Britain
We begin by describing the scientific and technological background, the former in this chapter and the latter in the following chapter. Perhaps the most important early scientific discoveries in the present context were those of the E region of the ionosphere made by E.V. Appleton and M.A.F. Barnett in 1925 and the F region by Appleton in 1927. These confirmed the speculation of Kennelly and Heaviside that an ionized region in the high atmosphere was responsible for the long-distance transmission of radio waves demonstrated by Marconi. Appleton enthusiastically expanded this work to study the properties of the ionosphere and soon there was a vigorous school of British scientists interested in research in this subject.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- History of British Space Science , pp. 1 - 8Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1986