Bird 1 is a fictional multi-stage rocket and space vehicle tasked with the encapsulation and recovery of enemy spacecraft. The equipment was constructed by an unnamed Asian power, implied to be the People's Republic of China,[1][2] in conjunction with Japanese industrial giant Osato Chemicals and Engineering.
It was operated by the criminal organisation SPECTRE and was launched from their volcano launch complex as part of a scheme to capture American and Soviet astronauts; provoking war between the superpowers. Bird One appeared in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
History[]
The rocket and its crew was indeed destroyed, but not by Blofeld. After SPECTRE's volcano base had been breached by the Japanese Secret Service, Ernst Stavro Blofeld had abandoned the lair, along with, in time, all the surviving workers. The key to the self-destructor came into the possession of James Bond, who managed to destroy Bird One, just two seconds before it was to capture Jupiter 17.
Overview[]
A two-stage rocket, Bird One uses two vehicles mounted on top of another, each of which contains were powered by fuel that required monosodium glutamate. Bond found an order for this product. It is piloted by two astronauts from a cramped cockpit in the second-stage orbiter. When it runs out of propellant, the first stage is jettisoned in low orbit and presumably burns up in the Earth's atmosphere. The second stage vehicle continues to orbit under its own power. The orbiter has a segmented nose that can be opened to engulf smaller space vehicles within its cavity. Before it re-enters the atmosphere, the craft is oriented with its aft section pointing 'downwards' towards its landing destination; an orientation that keeps the vehicle's heat shields facing the majority of the heat generated by friction. Within the atmosphere the orbiter jettisons its heat shield to reveal a set of rocket boosters which control the vehicle's descent. On landing, three landing struts extend from Bird One's sides and it lands vertically. Notably, the orbiter is equipped with a remote self-destruct mechanism, with which Blofeld intends to destroy the rocket and its crew and final cargo (Jupiter 17), once World War III breaks out. The self-destructor can only be activated from Earth, and only from a red button that can only be accessed by a key.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Vostok 16
- Jupiter 16
- Jupiter 17
- Moonraker (Space Shuttle)
References[]
- ↑ (2005) The Politics of James Bond: From Fleming's Novels to the Big Screen. University of Nebraska Press, 122. ISBN 978-0-8032-6240-9.
- ↑ You Only Live Twice. Retrieved on 15 February 2011.