Jul 18 1980
From The Space Library
Newspapers reported the launch at 8:04 a.m. local time of the 771-pound: Rohini 1 by India's space research organization (ISRO), making India the sixth country in the world to build and launch its own satellite. Rohini 1 was launched from Sriharikota Island near Madras on a four-stage SLV 3 solid-fuel rocket into an orbit with a 919-kilometer apogee, 306-kilometer perigee, 443.° inclination, and 97-minute period. "This is a great day for India," said Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who estimated the cost of the launch vehicle at $25.2 million.
The Washington Post said that the launch was remarkable "for a country that still used bullock carts as a prime mode of transportation." Despite its poverty, India had the world's third largest pool of technically trained personnel: Dr. Satish Dhawan, head of ISRO, said that the successful launch would pave the way for liquid-fuel rockets carrying larger payloads up to 1,300 pounds. India's 17-year-old space program had had setbacks, including a failure in August 1979, when its rocket dropped into the Bay of Bengal about 5 seconds after liftoff because the second stage failed to ignite. Launch of Rohini "underscored India's place as the most powerful nation of the South Asian subcontinent," said the Washington Post. (W Post, July 19/80, A-13; W Star, July 19/80, 4; NASA Dly Am Rpt, July 21/80)
Since Mt. St. Helens erupted May 18, NASA reported what it called the most complete observations to date of volcanic aerosols in the stratosphere.
Large volcanic eruptions had previously changed Earth's weather (short-term) and climate (long-term). ARC had collected Mt. St. Helen's data for its aerosol climate effects (ACE) program, using the U-2 aircraft in sampling missions on May 19, 22, and 27, and June 14 and 17.
A preliminary analysis of the volcanic plumes showed solid ash and sulfuric acid, the proportions varying in different samples. The acid in the stratosphere was several hundred times greater than before the eruptions. The first flight found ash particles as large as 30 microns, of composition similar to ash on the ground near the volcano. (Largest particles found on later flights were about 3 microns.) Gaseous sulfur dioxide also increased: levels on the first flight were 10 to 1,000 times ambient levels, and on the second flight were 100 times normal. The second flight found water vapor in the plume to be 10 times the normal amount, showing that volcanic water was injected into the stratosphere. A July 1979 ACE flight over Alaska gave baseline levels for comparison with conditions after the eruption.
On the day of the eruption, one of NASAs SAGE teams in Wyoming launched instruments on a balloon to enter and measure the dust plume; it detected dust concentrations 400 to 1,600 times normal in the stratosphere. The SAGE satellite launched in 1979 tracked the Mt. St. Helens' clouds as it had those of two previous eruptions. WFC sent an Orion P-3 a plane on an "underflight" as the cloud went over North Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean, along with a Super Loki rocket; these flights gave scientists simultaneous data readings from above and below the atmosphere. By late June, LaRC scientists decided that, although Mt. St. Helens could have boosted stratospheric aerosols by 50%, there was as yet no sign of adverse climate change. (ARC Release 80-62; NASA Release 80-107)
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