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BLACK KNIGHT. .REACHES 380 MILES OVER WOOMERA.

Statement'"by the Minister for Supply (Hon. Alien Fairhall) . .

The Minister for Supply (Mr, Allen Fairhall) said today

that a two-stage Black Knight vehicle fired at Woomera at 2.33 this

morning Eastern Standard Time had reached an altitude of 380 miles,

On re-entering the atmosphere, the parts made a brilliant

display which was visible for more than 100 miles, Â·

Mr. Fairhall said that this Black Knight carried an

experiment to give information on the composition and properties of - Â· .

the ionosphere —  a vital factor in long range radio communications.

He said that a metal bail on the end of a rod (called a

probe) was extended, from.Black Knight in the ionosphere and the -

energy of impact of ions on the ball wore measured. From this the

number end weight of ions were calculated.Â· Ã¢ÂÂ   Â·

.  Ã¢ÂÂ   Mr, Fairhall said that as in previous Black Knight firings,

multipiexexperiments were conducted. Â·  .

VThe. principal one was to measure weight distribution .of

ionised atoms in the upper atmosphere where the sun’s radiation

strips one or more electrons from gas atoms resulting in free '

negative gas, and nuclei in unbalanced electric state as positive Ã¢ÂÂ

ions o Â·  ’

ThisÂ·Â· occurred in the ionosphere extending from about 50

to 250 miles above the earth's surface."  '

CANBERRA

November 27, 1962

