"The Firebird Rocket The Firebird Rocket is Volume 57 in the original The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap. The book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by Vincent Buranelli in 1978. The Hardy Boys help their detective father, Fenton Hardy, search for a famous rocket scientist whose disappearance endangers the launching of the ""Firebird"" rocket from the Woomera Test Range. They are threatened multiple times, but still do not give up with their lives at risk. Frank and Joe Hardy aid their father and others. However, they soon learn that they are working for a criminal."
"another project was in the making. The British and Australian governments had decided to build a rocket testing range in outback Australia, and Beadell was chosen to locate a suitable site. He accepted the challenge, and began work with a surveying team in the central desert area of South Australia. He chose the site which became known as Woomera in March 1947. Further work was required to select and survey launching pad sites, the centreline of fire for rockets, and the airfield. The site of the future village was also chosen, allowing for approach paths of the runway and natural"
"Germany, the Netherlands and Australia would join. Australia, although not a part of Britain, as a member of the British Commonwealth and wartime ally, provided a sparsely populated missile launcher testing and development site at Woomera, South Australia. The original intent of this organization was to develop a space program exclusively for Europe, excluding the UN or any outside country. The initial plans for the rocket were proposed in 1962. The rocket created was called the ELDO-A, later renamed Europa-1. It measured 31.7 m in length and weighed more than 110 tons. Europa-1 was planned to put a payload of"
"The first full-size launch, weighing in total 104 tons, took place at Woomera on 24 May 1966, with dummy upper stages. Tests were conducted by Australia's Weapons Research Establishment and the French Laboratoire de Recherche en Balistique et Aérodynamique (based at Vernon). After two minutes and fifteen seconds, six seconds short of the planned flight, the rocket was destroyed as it was thought (by an impact predictor) to be veering west of the planned trajectory. However, the rocket was exactly on courses and inaccurate readings had been picked up by a radar station 120 miles (190 km) away. Two-stage testing"
"until it closed its doors in 1968. The Operations and Accommodations building remains today but is abandoned. This area was also the site of the Churchill Rocket Research Range, part of Canadian-American atmospheric research. Its first rocket was launched in 1956, and it continued to host launches for research until closing in 1984. The site of the former rocket range now hosts the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, a facility for multidisciplinary Arctic research. In the 1950s, the British government considered establishing a site near Churchill for testing their early nuclear weapons, before choosing Australia instead. Churchill is situated at the"
"missile was ceremonially retired from active service at Redstone Arsenal. From 1966 to 1967, a series of surplus modified Redstones called Spartas were launched from Woomera, South Australia as part of a joint U.S.–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena. These Redstones had two solid fuel upper stages added. The U.S. donated a spare Sparta for Australia's first satellite launch, WRESAT, in November 1967. Redstone was capable of flights from to . It consisted of a thrust unit for powered flight and a missile body for overall missile control and payload delivery on target. During powered flight, Redstone"
"WRESAT WRESAT (abbreviation for: Weapons Research Establishment Satellite) was the name of the first Australian satellite. It was named after its designer. WRESAT was launched on 29 November 1967 using a modified American Redstone rocket with two upper stages known as a Sparta from the Woomera Test Range in South Australia. The Sparta (left over from the joint Australian-US-UK Sparta program), was donated by the United States. The launch made Australia the seventh nation to have an Earth satellite launched, and the third nation to launch one from its own territory, after the Soviet Union and the United States (the"
"and utilized eight Rocketdyne H-1 (Jupiter) engines to form the first stage of the rockets. First developed by the ABMA, the Saturn rocket was adopted by NASA for its Apollo program. America's first heavy-lift launch vehicles, the first of these was launched in 1961. Sparta was the name given to a series of surplus Redstone missiles with two solid-fuel upper stages launched as part of a joint US-UK research project with Australia from 1966–67. Sparta launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT. Notes Bibliography Redstone (rocket family) The Redstone rocket was named for the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama where it"
"victory. After the War, the British and Australian governments established a joint project on research and development of guided missiles. The project included laboratory and workshop facilities at Salisbury, South Australia, and a rocket test range at a new town, Woomera, in the Australian Outback. Butement was selected as Deputy-Chief Scientist of the project and moved to Australia in early 1947. As a British subject, he was eligible to hold official positions in Australia, and, shortly after arriving, he was appointed Chief Superintendent of the project. In April 1949, Butement took a new position as the first Chief Scientist in"
"equalled the record for Australia's hottest March temperature with a maximum of ; this temperature had previously been recorded in the Western Australian town of Roebourne on 4 March 1998. From 1964 to 1965, 12 sounding rockets were launched from Carnarvon to a maximum altitude of 120 km. During the 1960s, NASA set up a tracking station nearby to support the Gemini and Apollo space programs. The tracking station was closed in the mid-1970s. Only the foundations of the historical site remain. The site is adjacent to the OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon. On 20 May 1988, the bulk carrier"
"first test launch of the Black Knight rocket was performed at High Down on the Isle of Wight. In September 1958, the second test launch was performed, this being the first to use the dedicated launch facility at the Woomera Test Range, Australia; the majority of Black Knight launches were performed from Woomera, leading to the launchers being constructed in the UK and then transported to Australia. The first two launch vehicles were used as 'proving rounds': launches which lacked any payload in order to test and validate the design of the rocket itself. The third launch of the Black"
". It was first declared a prohibited area in 1947. Germany's use of V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets during World War II prompted the British to establish their own rocket testing programme. However, the density of population in the United Kingdom made testing risky, so the British turned to Australia, asking for a site with a long testing corridor containing minimal population. The two nations joined in the Anglo-Australian Joint Project, a Commonwealth weapons design and test program established in 1946. Surveying the range from Woomera to the far north coast of Western Australia was initially conducted by the"
"Goddard Rocket Launching Site The Goddard Rocket Launching Site is a National Historic Landmark commemorating the launch site of the world's first successful liquid-fueled rocket. It is located at 20 Upland Street, Auburn, Massachusetts, within the Pakachoag Golf Course. The launch site is indicated with two markers accessible to visitors while the golf course is open. It is at the ""9th Fairway, between Tee and Green,"" of the Pakachoag Golf Course. Dr. Robert H. Goddard launched his historic rocket on March 16, 1926, from what was then the Asa Ward Farm. The rocket reached an altitude of , flew for"
"searches by explorer Dick Smith the previous year. Sparta (rocket) The Sparta was a three-stage rocket that launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT, on 29 November 1967. Sparta used a surplus American Redstone as its first stage, an Antares-2 as a second stage, and a BE-3 as a third stage. Several Spartas were launched from 1966–67 from Woomera Test Range in Woomera, South Australia as part of a joint United States–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena, and the U.S. donated a spare for the scientific satellite launch into polar orbit. The first stage was recovered from the"
"for upper atmosphere research at the University of Melbourne's site in Mildura, Victoria. As chairman of the Rocket Subcommittee of the Royal Society's Gassiot Committee, he visited the Weapons Research Establishment near Adelaide and the Woomera Rocket Range to discuss collaboration on the British Skylark rocket, which was test fired from Woomera in 1957. He sought to develop a UK space program in cooperation in space with Australia, the United States and European countries. He was successful in building international cooperation, although his Black Knight project was cancelled in favour of Black Arrow, which launched Prospero, only satellite launched with"
"1969 and 1979 at Woomera, Australia, seven of which were the Mk 2 variant. There was one failure, on 23 April 1978. All the launches were from the Woomera Test Range in Australia, north-west of Adelaide. The Falstaff rocket was commemorated in an event cover that depicted a rocket recognisable as a Falstaff. 5 December 1978 was commemorated in such a way. Falstaff (rocket) Falstaff was a British sounding rocket used during the 1970s as part of the Chevaline programme to improve the penetrability of the Polaris nuclear missile. It was the largest UK rocket with a solid booster ever"
"a British launch vehicle, from Woomera in 1971. He was involved in the negotiations leading to the establishment of the Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Mountain in New South Wales. Massey received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1975. He was a United Kingdom member and deputy chairman its governing board from 1975 to 1980, and chairman from 1980 to 1983. After a long illness, Massey died at his home in Esher, Surrey, which Jessica had named ""Kalamunda"", from the Australian Aboriginal word for the area in Western Australia where she had once lived, on 27 November 1983. He"
"government funding. The ASRI was created to provide opportunities for space-related industry and technology development for the Australian technical community. During the heyday of rocketry research in the 1960s Australia was the seventh nation to launch a satellite, WRESAT, into orbit, and the third from its own soil. The joint British-Australian ""Blue Streak"" program to develop Intercontinental ballistic missiles ended in the late 1960s. Around the same time the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) was established to develop a European satellite launch vehicle. Woomera, Australia, was chosen as the launch site for the test vehicles. Australia was granted status as"
"developed and launched several space rockets, as well as developing space planes. During this period, the launcher programmes were administered in succession by the Ministry of Supply, the Ministry of Aviation, the Ministry of Technology and the Department of Trade and Industry. Development of a British launch system to carry a nuclear device occurred from 1950 onwards. Rockets were tested on the Isle of Wight and RAF Spadeadam, Cumbria and both tested and launched from Woomera in South Australia. These included the ""Black Knight"" and ""Blue Streak"" rockets. A major satellite launch vehicle was proposed in 1957 based on Blue"
"Sparta (rocket) The Sparta was a three-stage rocket that launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT, on 29 November 1967. Sparta used a surplus American Redstone as its first stage, an Antares-2 as a second stage, and a BE-3 as a third stage. Several Spartas were launched from 1966–67 from Woomera Test Range in Woomera, South Australia as part of a joint United States–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena, and the U.S. donated a spare for the scientific satellite launch into polar orbit. The first stage was recovered from the Simpson Desert in 1990 after being found in"
"time on 5 June 1964 at Woomera. Thrust was terminated after 147 seconds, 6 seconds earlier than planned. The point of impact was 625 miles (1000 km) from the launch site, instead of the intended 950 miles (1500 km). It reached a height of 110 miles (180 km) and a maximum speed of 6,400 mph (10 300 kph). Near space is considered to be around 60–70 miles (90–110 km). The craft's structure was built by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and the rocket engine were the Rolls-Royce RZ.2. At this stage the French and German rocket stages were mere fibre-glass scale models."
"in the countryside carried enormous economic, social, and political costs. Development of the underground launchers presented a major technical challenge. 1/60th and 1/6th scale models based on a ‘U’ shaped design were constructed and tested at RPE Westcott. Three alternative designs were drawn up with one chosen as the prototype, designated K11. RAF Upavon would appear to have been the preferred location for the prototype operational launcher with the former RNAS at Crail as the likely first operational site. In 1955-1956, the rocket motors were test fired at The Needles Batteries on the Isle of Wight. As no site in"
"Britain provided enough space for test flights, a test site was established at Woomera, South Australia. Doubts arose as the cost escalated from the first tentative figure of £50 million submitted to the Treasury in early 1955, to £300 million in late 1959. Its detractors in the civil service claimed that the programme was crawling along when compared with the speed of development in the US and the Soviet Union. Estimates within the Civil Service for completion of the project ranged from a total spend of £550 million to £1.3 billion, as different ministers were set on either abandoning or"
"satellite, had failed to achieve orbit after a premature second-stage shut down. Prospero was launched at 04:09 GMT on 28 October 1971, from Launch Area 5B (LA-5B) at Woomera, South Australia, on a Black Arrow rocket, making Britain the sixth nation to place a satellite into orbit using a domestically developed carrier rocket. The Black Arrow's final stage Waxwing rocket also entered orbit, ""rather too enthusiastically"", as it continued to thrust after separation and collided with Prospero, detaching one of the satellite's four radio antenna. A tape recorder is on board, which failed on 24 May 1973 after 730 plays."
"Island Lagoon Tracking Station The Island Lagoon Tracking Station (Deep Space Station 41), an Earth station in Australia, was the first deep space station to be established outside of the United States, near Woomera, South Australia in November 1960. This area was chosen as the Australian government was working with the government of the United Kingdom on rocket and satellite research close by. The tracking station began as a trailer installation, and was operational in time for the International Geophysical Year of 1957. By the 1960s, the station consisted of permanent buildings and was a major unit in the network."
"spaceport on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. The project also saw the involvement of S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, TsSKB-Progress and the Barmin General Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau. In aid of the project, the ""Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Russian Federation on Cooperation in the Field of the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes"" was signed in Canberra on 23 May 2001, replacing the ""Agreement between the Government of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and the Government of Australia on Cooperation in the"
"its unfortunate effect on vehicle transmissions. Spadeadam was probably intended to be one of 60 launch sites but these were never built and it was only used as a test facility for engine firings and testing electronics and ground installations. The Rocket Establishment, as it was called, was divided into five areas: an administration and assembly block, a British Oxygen Company compound for on-site liquid oxygen fuel manufacture, a component test area, the engine test area and the static firing stands. The engine test area at Prior Lancy Rigg consisted of four concrete stands into which the engines could be"
"other astronomical objects. It was launched from McMurdo Station, Antarctica in December 1991 and 1992. Steady winds carried the balloon on a circumpolar flight lasting about two weeks each time. The rockoon (a portmanteau of rocket and balloon) was a solid fuel rocket that, rather than being immediately lit while on the ground, was first carried into the upper atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon. Then, once separated from the balloon at its maximum height, the rocket was automatically ignited. This achieved a higher altitude, since the rocket did not have to move through the lower thicker air layers that would"
"in 1948, and produced an alternative design that, while untried, could be used. The new British design incorporated a levitated pit, in which there was an air gap between the uranium tamper and the plutonium core. This gave the explosion time to build up momentum, similar in principle to a hammer hitting a nail. Implicit in the decision to develop atomic bombs was the need to test them. The preferred site was the American Pacific Proving Grounds. As a fallback, sites in Canada and Australia were considered. In September 1950, the Admiralty suggested that the Monte Bello Islands in Australia"
"for spy satellites on two different missions: The Menwith Hill Station (MHS) in the UK also serves as ground station for these satellite missions. As a US military installation, Pine Gap has been targeted for protests. Pine Gap Pine Gap is the commonly used name for an Australian Earth station approximately south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the centre of Australia which is operated by both Australia and the United States. Since 1988, it has been officially called the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG); previously, it was known as Joint Defence Space Research Facility. Partly"
"to fireworks. Between 1931 and 1933, he travelled throughout Germany displaying his rocket and claiming that it could be used to deliver mail. After moving to the United Kingdom, Zucker tried to convince the General Post Office that postal delivery by rocket was viable. After initial demonstrations on the Sussex Downs in southern England, a rocket was launched on 28 and a second on 31 July 1934 over a 1600-metre flight path between the Hebridean islands of Harris and Scarp in Scotland. Around 1.07 m long with a diameter of 18 cm, the rocket fuselages were packed with 1,200 envelopes."
"OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon The OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon, an Earth station in Australia was established to meet the need for more reliable and higher quality communications for NASA's Apollo Moon project. NASA contracted Australia's Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC) ""to provide an earth station near Carnarvon, Western Australia to link the NASA tracking station in that area to the control centre in the USA"", also contracting the COMSAT Corporation to launch three Intelsat-2 communications satellites. The 'sugar scoop' antenna became operational on 29 October 1966 when Intelsat-2A, the first of the three satellites launched, gave OTC and the"
"Launching Place, Victoria Launching Place is a town in Victoria, Australia, 54 km east of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the , Launching Place had a population of 2,492. Launching Place is located along the Warburton Highway between Woori Yallock and Yarra Junction. The Post Office opened on 12 July 1865, replaced by Hoddle's Creek in 1869, reopened on 1 September 1880, finally closing in 1994. The township was from 1901 until 1965 served by a railway station on the Warburton line. Launching Place has many camping grounds where families"