The Swedish Interplanetary Society (1950–1969) and the formation of IAF and IAA

With a growing interest for rocket technology and space travel after WW II a number of new “space societies” were formed in the period 1948–1951 in addition to the ones already existing in Germany, the UK and the US since before WW II. Soon came the need for a common international platform for exchange of information and experience, and the concept of an international federation of astronautical societies emerged.Sweden was one of the 8 countries to sign the original declaration to create an International Astronautical Federation on October 2, 1950 in Paris at the 1st International Astronautical Congress. The Swedish Society for Space Research (Svenska Sällskapet för Rymdforskning) was formed a few days after the historical event in Paris. The name was soon to be changed to the Swedish Interplanetary Society (Svenska Interplanetariska Sällskapet, SIS). Sweden was one of the 10 countries to sign the IAF foundation in 1951 in London and in the following year the first Constitution of IAF in Stuttgart.The SIS quickly grow to a membership of several hundred persons and its membership in IAF promoted an intensive exchange of journals, and the annual participation at the IAC gave growth to start study projects on spacecraft and sounding rockets, and the publication of astronautical journals in Swedish. In 1957 the first Swede was elected vice-president of IAF.Not too long after the IAF foundation the idea of an international body of distinguished individuals emerged, in addition to the body of "member societies" (IAF). Upon the initiative of Theodor von Karman, Eugen Sänger and Andrew Haley the IAF council approval of an International Academy of Astronautical was given on August 15, 1960 during the 11th IAC in Stockholm. This IAC in Stockholm gave a large publicity to space research and astronautics in Sweden, and put the activities of the SIS in the focus of the general public.This paper presents the Swedish involvement in the foundation of IAF and IAA. It also gives an overview on the positive influence of these two organisations on the work and progress of the Swedish Interplanetary Society and the diffusion of astronautics to the general public in Sweden.     

The Soviet/Russian spacesuit history: Part III—The European connection

The European spacesuit system (ESSS) initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the late 1980s had many similarities with the Soviet/Russian ORLAN spacesuit system, due to the Hermes system requirements. First, direct contacts in 1989 permitted closer comparison of the two suit systems, and soon the ORLAN manufacturer Zvezda could be contracted as support to the European spacesuit team. In particular, the suit enclosure design and predevelopment testing and operational analysis were performed in close cooperation between Zvezda and the European team under Dornier.

With the changing system requirements and a closer cooperation between ESA and the new Russian Space Agency (RKA) a new joint spaceplane/stations mission scenario came about. This scenario could be served by one spacesuit system, EVA SUIT 2000, which was to be jointly developed by a team headed by Zvezda and Dornier for ESA and RKA. ORLAN-DMA and ESSS experience and hardware were the initial platforms for these activities to create a new generation spacesuits for the Mir 2 and later the ISSs.

A suit demonstrator was manufactured and tested by the end of 1994 when ESA stopped its spacesuit development activities and the joint EVA SUIT 2000 project was terminated. However, many of the features designed, manufactured and tested for the EVA SUIT 2000 were then implemented by Zvezda in the new Russian spacesuit system ORLAN-M, now in full operation onboard the ISS.     

Tardigrades as a potential model organism in space research

Exposure of living organisms to open space requires a high level of tolerance to desiccation, cold, and radiation. Among animals, only anhydrobiotic species can fulfill these requirements. The invertebrate phylum Tardigrada includes many anhydrobiotic species, which are adapted to survive in very dry or cold environmental conditions. As a likely by-product of the adaptations for desiccation and freezing, tardigrades also show a very high tolerance to a number of other, unnatural conditions, including exposure to ionizing radiation. This makes tardigrades an interesting candidate for experimental exposure to open space. This paper reviews the tolerances that make tardigrades suitable for astrobiological studies and the reported radiation tolerance in other anhydrobiotic animals. Several studies have shown that tardigrades can survive gamma-irradiation well above 1 kilogray, and desiccated and hydrated (active) tardigrades respond similarly to irradiation. Thus, tolerance is not restricted to the dry anhydrobiotic state, and I discuss the possible involvement of an efficient, but yet undocumented, mechanism for DNA repair. Other anhydrobiotic animals (Artemia, Polypedium), when dessicated, show a higher tolerance to gamma-irradiation than hydrated animals, possibly due to the presence of high levels of the protective disaccharide trehalose in the dry state. Tardigrades and other anhydrobiotic animals provide a unique opportunity to study the effects of space exposure on metabolically inactive but vital metazoans.     

The Soviet-Russian space suits a historical overview of the 1960's

The development of protective suits for space use started with the Vostok-suit SK-1, first used by Yu. Gagarin on April 12, 1961, and then used on all subsequent Vostok-flights. The technical background for the design of these suits was the work on full pressure protective suits for military pilots and stratospheric flights in the 1930's through 50's. The Soviet-Russian space programme contains a large number of 'firsts', and one of the most well known is the first EVA by Leonov in 1965. This event is also the starting point for a long series of space suit development for Extravehicular Activities over the last 35 years. The next step to come was the transfer in void space of crew members between the two spacecraft Soyuz 4 and 5 in 1969. As has later become known this was an essential element in the planned Soviet lunar exploration programme, which in itself required a new space suit. After the termination of the lunar programme in 1972, the space suit development concentrated on suits applicable to zero-gravity work around the manned space stations Salyut 6, Salyut 7 and MIR. These suits have become known as the ORLAN-family of suits, and an advanced version of this suit (ORLAN-M) will be used on the International Space Station together with the American EMU. This paper covers the space suit development in the Soviet Union in the 1960's and the experience used from the pre-space era.     

The Sixth Catalogue of galactic Wolf-Rayet stars,their past and present

This paper presents the Sixth Catalogue of galactic Wolf-Rayet stars (Pop. I), a short history on the five earlier WR catalogues, improved spectral classification, finding charts, a discussion on related objects, and a review of the current status of Wolf-Rayet star research.The appendix presents a bibliography on most of the Wolf-Rayet literature published since 1867.Visiting astronomer, Kitt Peak National Observatory and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.Visiting astronomer, European Southern Observatory.     

Fast time-resolution spectroscopy of BW Vulpeculae

An experimental Fairchild CCD-211 was placed in the 2. 1-m coudé spectrograph at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and used to record an 87 Å spectral band centered on Ha. On the night of 1979 July 11 UT date, this system was used to observe continuously the extreme Cephei variable BW Vulpeculae throughout one of its 4^h 49^m cycles with an average exposure of 13 minutes per observation. A total of 18 observations was secured. The results show dramatic profile variations of H, including features not previously reported, and extreme variations of the C II 6578, 6582 lines, including variations of equivalent width. The fast time-resolution capability and the photometric linearity of the CCD have permitted the detection of subtle effects that have been missed by photographic observations and has led directly to important new interpretations of the complex atmospheric pulsations in this star, including effects of altered opacity on the formation of spectral lines and the suggestion of a helium-ionization heat engine as a mechanism for driving atmospheric pulsations.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.