Artificial Satellite Observations and Their Scientific Usage in Czechoslovakia

0482036 - ASÚ 2018 RIV US eng C - Conference Paper (international conference)
Sehnal, Ladislav
Artificial Satellite Observations and Their Scientific Usage in Czechoslovakia.
History of rocketry and astronautics. San Diego: American Astronautical Society, USA, 2014 - (Dougherty, K.), s. 349-356. AAS History Series. ISBN 978-0-87703-608-1. ISSN 0730-3564.
[International Astronautical Congress /61./. Prague (CZ), 27.09.2010-01.10.2010]
Institutional support: RVO:67985815
Keywords : micro-accelerometer * effects of non-gravitational forces * atmospheric perturbations
OECD category: Aerospace engineering

The first artificial satellite observations concerned the transmission of the radio signals from the Soviet Sputnik satellite. The Institute of Radiotechnics and Electronics in Prague recorded the radio data and the Astronomical Institute supplemented this with Doppler determinations of the satellite's position. These visual observations joined a set of observational data, from which the first determination of the oblateness of Earth was made (with the results published in Nature). Visual observations were quickly made and easily analyzed. However, they revealed the absence of precise time measurements as a principal drawback to satellite position determinations. Progress came with construction of four axially mounted cameras, which had a focus of 50-100 cm. The Soviet Academy of Sciences supplied the cooperating countries with AFU-75 cameras and the Carl Zeiss Jena-developed SBG cameras. Groups of these movable cameras made a useful and relatively accurate satellite observation net. The use of photographic cameras as the main devices for satellite position determination came to an end when laser ranging offered a new and precise method of satellite positioning.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0277436