British National Committee for Space Research facts for kids

The British National Committee for Space Research (BNCSR) was a special group created by the Royal Society in December 1958. Its main job was to connect Britain with a new international group called the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). The BNCSR also helped organize Britain's own space activities.

How the BNCSR Started

In October 1958, a big international science group, the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), suggested creating a committee for space research. This led to the formation of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), which had its first meeting in November 1958.

Britain wanted its own committee to work with COSPAR. This new group would also help manage British space projects after the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The IGY was a special period from 1957 to 1958 when scientists from many countries worked together to study Earth and space.

The Royal Society brought together two existing smaller groups. These were the Gassiot Committee's rocket group and the National IGY Committee's artificial satellite group. They combined them into the new British National Committee for Space Research (BNCSR).

The BNCSR officially started on December 18, 1958. Its 28 members were chosen on February 12, 1959. Harrie Massey was the chairman, and W. V. D. Hodge was the physical secretary. The smaller groups that joined BNCSR gave their final reports at the committee's first meeting on March 4, 1959, and then they were officially closed down.

What the BNCSR Did

The BNCSR created three smaller working groups, called subcommittees, to help with its tasks.

Tracking Analysis and Data Recovery (TADREC)

This subcommittee was led by J. A. Ratcliffe. TADREC took over the work of the previous group that focused on artificial satellites during the IGY. Their job was to track satellites, analyze the information they sent back, and recover data.

Design for Experiments (DOE)

This group was chaired by Harrie Massey himself. The DOE subcommittee continued the work of the old artificial satellite group from the IGY. They had two main goals when they started. First, they needed to find suitable artificial satellites that Britain could launch. Second, they looked into whether it would be useful to add special controls to the Skylark rocket. These controls would help keep the rocket steady for better scientific experiments.

World Data Centre Coordination

The third subcommittee worked to coordinate with the World Data Centre. This center was located at the Radio Research Station (RRS) in Slough. E. Bullard was the chairman of this group. Their role was to make sure that space data collected in Britain was shared and organized with the global scientific community.

See also

• List of astronomical societies