§ Mr. Mawbyasked the Minister of Supply if he will state the nature of his Department's contribution to the International Geophysical Year.
§ Mr. Aubrey JonesFirstly, Skylark rockets are being launched, which carry up to 150 lb. of instruments to heights of 100 miles, or more. In this way, condi?130W tions in the upper atmosphere will be studied, and in addition measurements made of radiation from the night sky, the earth's magnetic field and other physical phenomena. The firing programme has started and four successful launches have already been made at Woomera; future firings will also include launches from our range in Wales. This work is being done in collaboration with university research groups, through the Royal Society.
Secondly, our scientists have played a prominent part in tracking the Russian Sputniks and recording the signals from them. From this information, we have established an orbit prediction service on the second Sputnik.
All the data we obtain will be transmitted to the International Geophysical Year authorities.