Harp Technology (Part 7)

Harp Technology

(Part 7)

When this big 16-inch gun is in position, and the launch site facilities in place, the real work of the HARP program was set to begin. It was a accident of history that the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when the hard-working crews of HARP could make their first test shot. The people of Harp, along with the rest of the world, can held their collective breaths and waiting to see if the world was once again going to war. And crisis could not have come at a worst time for HARP. It was understandable to anyone familiar with the instillation on Barbados that the gun system could in no way be used as a weapon against Cuba. But in the occasion of the war, the Cubans and the Soviets could surely consider it is a danger. It would likely draw air attacks. But Luckily the crisis ended this peacefully and war was once again adverted.

1963

In January 1963 the Harp team was go back at Barbados and they are ready for their first test flights. And the first test successions 12 launches was programmed. And It was hoped that to break the current gun-launched altitude record of 70 km, which set two years earlier by BRL. As with many start-up operations this first test series was troubled by equipment problems. These included a leaking recoil mechanism, which can delayed the first flight by some six hours.

But on the twentieth of January 1963 this big gun boomed for the first time as it fired its first test shot into the clear blue sky. And this was the first time in history that a gun of this caliber had been fired at an angle of most near vertical. But it from a cloud of flames and smoke a 315 kg test slug was hurtled into the air. And with a launch velocity of 1000 m-s and a flight time of about 58 seconds the wooden slug rose to an height above sea level of 3000 meters before coming down a kilometer off shore.

But On 21 January of1963 the first Marlette 1 was launched. It take to the air for 145 seconds and achieved an altitude of 26 km. On the 23 January a second test slug was flown. On 1 February a second Marlette 1 reached an altitude of 27 km. And This was the first flight of a Marlette with a radio transmitter beacon which can allowed that the vehicle to be tracked with throughout the flight. With these four successful flights the first test series successfully ended.

And the next series of test flights was organized in the early April using the new Marlette 2. This Marlette 2 vehicles can performed well and upper atmospheric research with the 16-inch gun began. By the by end of June a new world's gun-launched altitude record of 92 km had been set with a Marlette 2 the big 16-inch Barbados gun.

In the 1963 also they can saw the development of the first gun-launched rockets. The Marlette 3A program can started in the spring of 1963. But the test firings originated in September with launches proceeding to the end of the year. (For further details you can see the entries on the Marlette 3A and Marlette 3B vehicles.)

Army are Impressed by Harp with the starting results of the US Army agreed to fund the project for $250,000 per year.

By in the end of the year some 20 Marlette 2 vehicles had been flown with altitudes of 80 km being regularly achieved. And this is a great deal of atmospheric information was obtained. With greater value was the information that was obtained on the internal ballistics of the 16-inch gun and the flight performance of the Marlette 2, Marlette 3A and 3B vehicles.

 1964

In 1964 started with more Marlette 2 flights. Early in the program it became policy to conduct a launch series at the beginning of each year. And This can served several purposes. Primarily, it can allow multiple data sets to be obtained over a fixed goal at a fixed time per year. And this can made it possible to compare the progressive weather conditions over many years. And this was also no lost of the Harp staff that Barbados was somewhat more pleasurable in the month of January then up north in Canada.

And The Marlette 2 quickly become the hard worker of the program and proved itself by carrying many diverse payloads. The Marlette 2's could be launched there for a cost of about $3000 each at the intervals of less then an hour. Over the length of the HARP program some 200 Marlette 2's would be launched there, and this making it as one of the most successful sub-orbital vehicles ever developed.

Army are more Impressed by the results of the Harp program, Then the US Army soon agreed to increase their annual finding of this program from $250,000 to $1,500,000 per year. But the Canadian government was still not funding Harp in any significant manner, but at least McGill was assured US army that their initial start-up loan was repaid.

In the March of 1964 the Canadian government had come to terms with the US Army. They can give Joint funding of $3,000,000 per year was agreed upon. They was decided that the US Army's payments were to go through the Canadian government, which officially diminished McGill University to manage the program.

But the Harp sponsoring worries were far from over. But McGill University was forced to once again fund for Harp until the managerial concerns were addressed and the Canadian funding was available. And almost directly HARP's opponents in Ottawa set to work to damage the operation again. This funding is for the fiscal period of July 1964 to June 1965 was greatly delayed. But the University advances the project some $500,000 to continue operations. But the Canadian government did not release the projects funds, including the US Army's share, for some 10 months into the financial year.
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(To Be Countinue.....)