From The Archives: The First Rendezvous

See the cover of the Dec. 20, 1965 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology , which shows the tip path of a 43 -ft. antenna displaced from the vertical and allowed to swing freely in a vacuum chamber at Goddard Flight Center. 

The antenna, made from a flat strip of beryllium copper 2 in. wide and 0.002 in. thick, is manufactured by de Havilland Aircraft of Canada, Ltd. It will be used in designing the passive stabilization for the Radio Astronomy Explorer (RAE) satellite (See page 106 of the Sep. 27, 1965 issue). The satellite will measure very low-frequency electromagnetic radiation from space. 

The photo was taken during a test to determine the damping inherent in this type of structure. 

A pin light on the antenna tip traced the pattern during time exposures made with a 70-mm. pulse-operated Hulcher camera with 65-mm. f/11lens on Tri-X film. The camera was enclosed in a pressure box. 

Read more in our editorial on page 11 and on page 16.

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