HL Deb 02 August 1962 vol 243 cc511-2WA
THE EARL OF BESSBOROUGH

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will make a statement about the scientific information so far received from the satellite "Ariel" and about its behaviour.

VISCOUNT HAILSHAM

There has bean a massive flow of coded data which it will take time to process and analyse. The experimenters are therefore not yet ready to express considered views but have already indicated that much interesting and valuable information about the structure of the ionosphere and the constitution of the high atmosphere is now available.

"Ariel" at first behaved almost perfectly, but recently transmission of data has been interrupted irregularly. The reason is not known but is being investigated.