The Complete Book of Outer Space – Part 5 of 14

The High Altitude Program

The author of this short piece, Robert P. Haviland is an American Astronautical Society Fellow. He wrote several books on space engineering and satellites and such.  Also, in 1969 he was made a Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).  He headed the high altitude program called Project Hermes which at the time of the book, was an active concern.
Some things touched on here are the challenges presented by stage separation and the rotation of the earth, as well as some of the results – at the time, velocity and altitude records were being set.
This must have been a very interesting read. This chapter isn’t speculation or projection, it’s not plans for the near future, it’s about things that were actually happening at that time.  Enjoy.

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In a fortnight, the next installment is a lengthy chapter on the History of the Rocket Engine by James H. Wyld, co-founder of the first company of it’s kind in the U.S. – Reaction Motors, Inc.