Final Skylark launch.

[flynn]

<b>Last launch for UK skylark rocket </b><br /><br />From BBC.<br /><br />A hugely successful and largely unsung British space programme is about to draw to a close with the final launch of a Skylark sounding rocket. <br />The vehicle, which first flew in 1957, became a very inexpensive but effective way of carrying scientific experiments into suborbital space. <br /><br />It lost official UK government support in the late 1970s but sufficient motors were left to continue research flights. <br /><br />The 441st and last Skylark will blast off from Sweden on Sunday. <br /><br />The launch window at the Swedish Space Corporation's Esrange site, near Kiruna, opens at 0600 BST (0700 CET). <br /><br />Hugh Whitfield, of Sounding Rocket Services Ltd, which has operated the Skylark vehicles since 1999, told the BBC News Website: "This is a 50-year-old programme - it began in 1955 and we will conclude in 2005. At one stage, it was a very big programme with over 200 people working on it. <br /><br />"The Skylark is a classic. Back in the '50s, Britain was very advanced on the capabilities of aircraft and they were coming up to launch satellites; the country was Europe's leading light and we were up there with the Americans and Russians. <br /><br />"It wasn't until later in the '50s and '60s that governments started cutting back on programmes." <br /><br /><b>Young start </b><br /><br />The final mission, Maser 10 as it is known, has been organised under the European Space Agency banner, and will carry five experiments. <br /><br />They include a biological investigation of the muscle protein actin, and a study of turbulence in evaporating liquids. <br /><br />The tests will experience about six minutes of "weightlessness", allowing their scientists to examine the physical processes at play that would otherwise be masked by the effects of gravity in a surface laboratory. <br /><br />The Maser 10 payload will be recovered by helicopter after it has parachuted back to Earth. <br /><br />Early development <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[jurgens]

How much science can you do with just a sub orbital vehicle anyways?

 

[najab]

><i>How much science can you do with just a sub orbital vehicle anyways?</i><p>Quite a bit. There's a lot of science that doesn't require long exposure to the space environment, and the low cost/high flight rate possible with a sounding rocket means that in many cases you get more bang for the buck.</p>

 

[flynn]

Seeing as the project ran for 50 years, I'd say yes.<br /><br />Not sure how the cost compares with Parabolic flight programs but even so it has allowed extremely low cost microgravity environments for university experiments for a long time. Even if it was only used as screening to see if it was worthwhile sending something into orbit it may of saved millions in not sending up experiments that just weren't worthwhile. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[earth_bound_misfit]

One plus I can see is the skylark wouldn't leave any space junk on orbit. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>Wanna see this site looking like the old SDC uplink?</p><p>Go here to see how: <strong>SDC Eye saver </strong>  </p> </div>