by Richard K Graf
It is said that Jules Verne chose a Supergun for his story because he didn't think that anyone would believe that a rocket could actually take people to the Moon. For years gun propulsion was considered the only practical means of launching vehicles into space, as rockets were still relatively small and crude gunpowder-based devices. By the 1930's the first liquid propellant rockets began appearing and gun propulsion was soon abandoned as a means of space launching.
The High Altitude Research Program (HARP) was unique in the history of the space age. For the first time in history a serious attempt was made to use cannons in place of rockets to explore earth's upper atmosphere and to try to launch satellites.
The story of the HARP program is a long and interesting one that has already been detailed in several excellent books. This work is intended as only a brief history of the HARP Program that hopefully will allow the reader a deeper understanding of the personalities and events that affected the project. Unfortunately the scope of this work does not allow full credit to be given to each and every person that participated in HARP - only the major personalities can be covered.
PRE-HARP YEARS
The origins of HARP can be found in the later half of the 1950's when several related gun propulsion projects were conducted in Canada and the USA. The two notable centers of research at the time were the Canadian Armaments and Research Development Establishment (CARDE), Aerophysics Wing, under Dr. Gerry Bull and the US Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) in Aberdeen Maryland under Dr. Charles Murphy.
At CARDE Bull worked on many aspects of aerodynamics and ballistics for both missile and gun propulsion systems. When no major government-authorized projects were in progress, Bull conducted many small projects related to ballistics and particularly high velocity guns. Although much of Bull's work revolved around military development he also worked on several different types of gun propulsion systems and on development of essential components (such as gun-launchable radio transmitters and electronics). It is interesting to note that at the time the US Army had posted several officers at CARDE not only to co-ordinate efforts with the Canadians, but also to keep a close watch on the unique work that Bull was doing there. Ironically Bull soon learned that although it was next to impossible to get money from his cash-strapped superiors for quick experiments, the US officers had their own budget and would fund most any worthwhile endeavor.
It was at CARDE that Bull developed his gun-launched satellite concept. He also gained an international reputation for his brilliant ballistics work. In the process made many friends within the US military establishment that would serve him well in the coming years.
http://www.astronautix.com/a/abriefhistoheharpproject.html
