1. The Committee is set up by the Assembly in accordance with Article XI.I of the Statute.

2. The Committee's sphere of activities covers the whole field of space science. When dealing with space astronomy it shall co-operate with the ESF Standing Committee on Astronomy.

3. Bearing in mind that the advancement of co-operation in basic research is one of the principal aims of the Foundation and taking into account similar activities of other organisations, the main objects of the Committee are:

1. (a) to keep under review the scientific and technical development of space science,

2. (b) to consider possible developments of space research during the coming decade,

3. (c) to continue to co-operate with the European Space Agency as outlined in the agreement reached in 1976 – ‘Relations between the European Science Foundation and the European Space Agency’,

4. (d) to maintain close collaboration with the American scientific community through the Space Science Board of the US National Academy of Sciences,

In this account we have attempted to cover the development of space science in the UK over a period a little short of 30 years from the initial steps taken in 1953 to the present time (1983). The concluding date has been arbitrarily chosen – it does not represent any special stage reached. UK space scientists are concerned in a wide variety of projects covering many scientific disciplines. In cosmic X-ray astronomy they are much involved in the ESA EXOSAT satellite to be launched shortly, as well as with bilateral collaborations with West Germany and with Japan. IUE continues to operate very successfully as an ultra-violet observatory satellite. In optical astronomy UK scientists are planning to make maximum possible use of the space telescope and will certainly be concerned in the design and development of instrumentation for the ESA astrometry satellite Hipparcos. The IRAS satellite already pouring out new information about cosmic infrared sources will provide data for UK scientists to work with in infra-red astronomy. In addition UK X-ray astronomy experiments will be flown on Space Lab 1 and Space Lab 2.

A number of UK groups will be involved in instrumentation for GIOTTO, the ESA probe to fly by Halley's Comet in 1986 and for the SPM which will be the first to make observations of the heliosphere well out of the ecliptic plane.

The scientific value of research with artificial satellites

The scientific study of the upper atmosphere of the earth, the solar and lunar influences which affect its behaviour, and the immediate surroundings of the earth in interplanetary space has been proceeding for many years. This has included the investigation of pressure, density, temperature and wind distributions (atmospheric structure), the ionosphere, the airglow and aurora, atmospheric tides, magnetic variations due to circulating currents in the atmosphere or beyond, meteors, cosmic rays and solar disturbances.

In the first instance, this work was carried out exclusively by indirect methods based entirely on the use of equipment on the ground together, of course, with the maximum use of theory. Although remarkable progress has been made, there are certain properties and phenomena which cannot be studied in this way. The most important of many is the nature of the radiation from the sun before it has been modified by the atmosphere. Only a narrow spectrum range of sunlight penetrates to ground level and yet it is the absorbed radiation which is responsible for atmospheric phenomena, such as the ionosphere and the airglow. It is not only the electromagnetic radiation which needs to be studied but also the particle radiation which is responsible, for example, for auroral and magnetic storm phenomena.

Reference has already been made in Chapter 4 to the statement made by the Prime Minister to the House of Commons on 12 May 1959 about space research in Britain. In this he referred, among the different possibilities for the provision of satellite launching systems, to that involving co-operation with some Commonwealth countries. Following this statement, enquiries were made through the UK High Commission in various Commonwealth countries about possibilities of collaboration, not only as regards launching systems but in other aspects of space research such as tracking, data analysis, provision of launching sites for rockets and satellites, and the preparation of scientific experiments to operate in space. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India expressed interest in different aspects of the matter. Thus Canada, while favourable to collaboration in general, drew attention especially to the existence of their topside ionospheric sounder programme that offered many opportunities for UK participation. Australia was interested in the use of Woomera for launching satellites and a proposal for a space experiment concerning cosmic rays was made by H.G. Messel of Sydney University. India welcomed co-operation in the first instance in tracking and the preparation of scientific equipment. New Zealand welcomed the suggestions for collaboration and looked forward to receiving further details. No country indicated any interest in participation in the development of a satellite launching system as such.

Both interpretation of results obtained by rockets and satellites and the planning of new experiments depend on basic scientific data and laboratory research which are not well catered for.

For example, the reaction rates and processes occurring in the upper atmosphere, in stars and elsewhere in the Universe are not well understood. Laboratory studies are essential if the full value of the space research programme is to be realised. The same is true for plasma flow in the interplanetary field of disturbances created by satellites in rarefied ionized gases. This would require both laboratory and theoretical work.

In the USA these studies are not well co-ordinated with space studies. The same is true of the USSR. Such work would be especially valuable in that it would put Europe in a position to make a more well conceived and co-ordinated attack on the problems of space.

Studies of this kind on both the theoretical and experimental sides are necessary not only before experiments are carried out but also after in order that full value should be obtained from the observations.

FINDING A CLOCK THAT WOULDN'T GET SEASICK

Navigation has provided one of the most persistent motives for measuring time accurately. All navigators depend on continuous time information to find out where they are and to chart their course. But until about two centuries ago, no one was able to make a clock that could keep time accurately at sea.

COOLING OFF

How do you make something colder? Making something hotter is easy. For example, if you need to warm yourself on a chilly night, you can build a fire with little or no technology. But to cool yourself on a hot day is quite another matter.

THE GENESIS OF AN IDEA

The year was 1665, the month was August, and Cambridge, England, was besieged by bubonic plague. Isaac Newton, then a 23-year-old university student, retired to the solitude of his family's farm in Lincolnshire until the plague subsided and the university reopened. Not taking kindly to inactivity, Newton composed 22 questions for himself to tackle, ranging from geometric constructions to Galileo's new mechanics to Kepler's planetary laws. During the next 18 months, he immersed himself in the search for answers and along the way discovered calculus, the laws of motion, and the universal law of gravity.

THE UNIVERSE AS A MACHINE

In the seventeenth century science assumed its modern form and the scientific spirit infected Europe. It was then that Aristotle's view of nature was rejected and Galileo's great book of the universe was adopted. The new science was nourished by an optimism that mankind could discover the laws of nature.

One of the most significant and influential figures in seventeenth-century natural philosophy was René Descartes. Early in his life, Descartes rebelled against the traditions in which he had been thoroughly educated. He sought new foundations for knowledge, foundations which could underpin confidence in our understanding of nature. Convinced of the indubitable logic of mathematics, Descartes chose to identify mathematics with physics.

Descartes is credited with having been the first person to state the law of inertia correctly.

FREEWAYS IN THE SKY

Not many years ago, the only conceivable use of the beautiful celestial mechanics developed over hundreds of years was to compute the positions of bodies in the heavens. Today that situation has changed radically.

FORCED OSCILLATIONS

Galileo was not the only famous member of the Galilei family; his father Vincenzo was an accomplished and articulate musician.

WINDING UP THE MECHANICAL UNIVERSE

We've now arrived at the final chapter in our study of the mechanical universe. In our story we've introduced revolutionary ideas and heroes from Copernicus to Newton, and just as they did before us, we've linked the physics of the heavens to the physics of the earth.

THE AGE OF STEAM

The age of steam is past. The steam engine is a curiosity, an object of nostalgia that has been replaced by diesel engines, electric motors, turbine engines, and gasoline engines to drive the wheels of civilization. Nonetheless, steam did have its day. The steam engine not only caused the industrial revolution, which changed our lives, it also led to discoveries in physics so profound that they changed the way we think. How did investigations into the nature of steam engines lead to a deeper understanding of the universe?

First, we need to understand how a steam engine operates. In essence, a steam engine is a device which heats water in a dosed container, a boiler, thereby converting it to steam.

ANTIDIFFERENTIATION, THE REVERSE OF DIFFERENTIATION

We saw by examples in earlier chapters that laws of physics are often expressed as equations about the rate at which things change – that is, equations about derivatives.

In discussing falling bodies in Chapter 2, we started with a knowledge of the distance function (how far a body falls in a given time), then took its derivative to find its speed (how fast it is falling), and then took the derivative of the speed to find its acceleration (how fast it was getting faster).

FINDING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM

The flood of forces identified and classified in the eighteenth century was reduced to a trickle after it was realized that electric forces were responsible for many phenomena. Nature, it seemed, acknowledged only a handful of forces. Each force had its own “universal constant.” For electric forces, it was Ke; for gravity, G; for magnetism, there was an additional constant Km; and for light, there was the speed of light, known since 1630 to be 3 × 108 m/s. Surely many physicists wondered whether these constants and the forces they represent are somehow related.