[Plates 33-35.] As part of tbe general investigation of the initial stages of gaseous explosions now being carried on by us at the Imperial College, London, we have had occasion to study photographically the behaviour of an equimolecular methane-oxygen mixture when ignited by sparks of varying intensities passed between electrodes fixed half-way along a horizontal glass tube (35 to 50 cms. long by 2 to 2 • 5 cms. diameter), both ends of which were dosed in one series of experiments, but open in another. A few supplementary experiments were also made under other spark igniting conditions. The results of these experiments seem to be of sufficient importance, from the point of view of the interpretation of the initial stages of gaseous explosions, as to justify the separate publication of them at this juncture.The evidence of the experiments lies so much in the photographs themselves that little need be said about them beyond indicating the precise conditions under which they were obtained. It is left to each reader to study them for himself, because, while their main features will be obvious to all, the inter pretation leaves room for discussion, which it is hoped this publication will provoke.To us they suggest such possibilities as (a) the occurrence, under ordinary sparking conditions, of what seems to be much like a definite induction period ' as a preliminary to the actual combustion; ( ) an initial propagation through the medium of a " ghost-like flame " condition involving only a very partial combination of the gases; and (c) the main combustion following later as the result of the superposing of a compression wrave, or the like, upon a system which during the phase (b) has already become highly sensitive to chemical changes.Experimental.
Loss of the command function of the Telstar satellite first occurred on November 24, 1962. There had been earlier indications of degraded performance. Facts are presented which led to the conclusion that the malfunction of the command system was due to surface damage to certain transistors in the redundant command decoders by the enhanced radiation in the inner Van Allen belt. Correction steps have included laboratory experiments to gain a better understanding of the cause of failure, the use of continuous normal commands, commands transmitted from Johannesburg, South Africa, and specially modified commands to circumvent failure of the more vulnerable transistors. The operations which aided ir. the gradual rejuvenation of both command decoders are described. Also covered are the subsequent reappearance of the command system malfunction on February 21, 1963, and its correlation with the variation of the average radiation intensity seen by the satellite.
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