Russell Johnson, age 16, of Bowling Green, Ohio, for his question:
WHAT WAS THE INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL YEAR?
An 18 month scientific study period that started in the middle of 1957 and continued through 1958 was called the International Geophysical Year. It is abbreviated as IGY. An extension of one additional year, through December, 1959, was called International Geophysical Cooperation.
Scientists from 70 nations joined in a study of the Earth's oceans, the atmosphere and the sun. The main objective of the IGY was to answer questions about the universe.
Stations were established throughout the world, from the Antarctic to the Arctic and to many of the most remote islands of the Pacific Ocean.
One of the prime objectives of the study was to establish and improve worldwide radio communications, make navigation safer and surer and to make weather and climate more predictable.
There were three main divisions of the various fields to be studied: the upper atmosphere: glaciers and oceans; and the Earth's structure.
The Antarctic was very important for weather studies since temperatures near the center of the continent are as low as minus 124 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth.
Twelve nations set up 50 stations in Antarctica and weather information from all of these locations was radioed to the IGY Little America Station. Weather maps for the entire Antarctic region were drawn up daily from the information obtained.
Extensive studies were.also made in the Arctic region.
The United States fired hundreds of research rockets during the IGY to heights ranging from 60 to more than 200 miles. Rocket experiments included studies of cosmic rays, solar activity, the Earth's magnetic field, the ionosphere, aurora and weather.
Much of the U. S. rocked project was centered at Fort Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. A new firing station was built there. Other U.S. launches came from stations in Florida, New Mexico, California, Guam and aboard ships in both the Arctic and Antarctic areas.
Other countries conducting rocket research projects during the IGY included Canada, Australia, France, Great Britain, Japan and the U.S.S.R.
During the first 13 months of the IGY, seven Earth satellites were launched, four by the U.S. and three by the U.S.S.R.
During the IGY, new information about the farthest reaches of the atmosphere was obtained from the study of whistlers, which are whistlelike sounds that can be read on radio receivers tuned to very low frequencies. The study seemed to prove the theory that the Earth's atmosphere goes far beyond where it was thought to "end."