Editing Project HARP (section)

=== Preparations ===
Project HARP originated as the brainchild of [[Gerald Bull]], a renowned but controversial ballistic engineer specializing in high-velocity guns and gun propulsion systems.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> In the mid-1950s, Bull was working on [[Anti-ballistic missile|anti-ballistic missile (ABM)]] and [[Intercontinental ballistic missile|intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)]] research at the [[DRDC Valcartier|Canadian Armaments and Research Development Establishment (CARDE)]] when he formulated the idea to launch [[satellite]]s into orbit using an enormous cannon.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Bull believed that a large supergun would be significantly more cost-effective at sending objects into space than a conventional rocket. Bull argued it would not need expensive rocket motors, firing a large gun wouldn't require the missile to throw away multiple [[Multistage rocket|rocket stages]] to break through the Earth's atmosphere to reach orbit.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Park|first=William|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160317-the-man-who-tried-to-make-a-supergun-for-saddam-hussein|title=The tragic tale of Saddam Hussein's 'supergun'|date=March 17, 2016|work=BBC|access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref> In theory, a [[Sabot (firearms)|sabot]] would protect the payload during firing and later fall away as the satellite inside emerges.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|last=Grundhauser|first=Eric|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/project-harp-space-gun-barbados|title=Project HARP Space Gun|date=May 2017|work=Atlas Obscura|access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref>

During the late 1950s, Bull conducted preliminary launch experiments at the CARDE (now known as [[DRDC Valcartier|Defence Research and Development Canada – Valcartier]], or [[DRDC Valcartier]]) using guns as small as 76mm. These experiments soon caught the attention of the U.S. Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army's Chief of Army Research and Development, [[Arthur Trudeau|Lieutenant general Arthur Trudeau]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.friends-partners.org/mwade/lvs/5inrpgun.htm|title=5 inch HARP Gun|last=Graf|first=Richard|date=October 31, 2001|website=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=February 11, 2020|archive-date=May 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530235720/http://www.friends-partners.org/mwade/lvs/5inrpgun.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the time, aircraft engineers needed more information on the atmosphere's upper regions to design better jet planes. However, launching rockets into the air to collect data was generally considered costly and inefficient.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> The U.S. military, in particular, was especially in need of a low-cost launch system that could cover altitudes that conventional aircraft and [[weather balloon]]s couldn't reach to support the development of new supersonic aircraft and missile systems. By late 1960, CARDE and the Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) conducted several feasibility studies surrounding small gun-launched probes' structural integrity.<ref name=":4" /> Around the same time, BRL developed a smooth-bore, 5-inch gun system at [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]] that successfully launched a probe to altitudes exceeding 220,000 feet.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4T48x5ELy5UC&q=ballistic+research+laboratory+project+HARP&pg=RA4-PA5|title=Project HARP Leads to U.S.-Canada Study of Low-Orbit Program|date=May 1964|work=Army Research and Development|access-date=February 11, 2020|issue=5|volume=5|page=5}}</ref>

In 1961, Bull resigned from CARDE and [[McGill University]] hired him as a professor. Working together with Donald Mordell, the university's Dean of Engineering, Bull moved forward with his space gun project and requested funding from various sources. He received a $200,000 loan from McGill University's board of governors.  He was given a verbal promise for a $500,000 grant from the Canadian Department of Defence Production (CDDP), which was later reportedly denied due to bureaucratic opposition.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Lukasiewicz|first=Julius|date=April 1986|title=Canada's Encounter with High-Speed Aeronautics|journal=Technology and Culture|volume=27|issue=2|pages=223–261|doi=10.2307/3105144|jstor=3105144|s2cid=111725650 }}</ref> In October 1961, Bull met with Charles Murphy, the head of the Ballistic Research Laboratory, to pitch his project for a supergun and was met with overwhelming support. The U.S. Army provided Bull with substantial financial backing and two 16-inch naval [[gun barrel]]s complete with a land mount and surplus powder charges, a heavy-duty crane, and a $750,000 radar tracking system.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" /> Bull and Mordell officially announced the HARP project as a program under McGill University's Space Research Institute at a press conference in March 1962.<ref name=":3" /> HARP was presented as a research initiative dedicated to "developing low-orbital capacity for [[Geodesy|geodetic]] and atmospheric objectives".<ref name=":7" /> However, the project's long-term goal was to place satellites into orbit<ref>{{Cite news|last=Trevithick|first=Joseph|url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/19847/the-army-now-wants-hypersonic-cannons-loitering-missiles-and-a-massive-supergun|title=The Army Now Wants Hypersonic Cannons, Loitering Missiles, And A Massive Supergun|date=April 3, 2018|work=The Drive|access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Oberholtzer|first=William|url=https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2012/2/29/2012march-an-inexpensive-solution-for-quickly-launching-military-satellites-into-space|title=An Inexpensive Solution for Quickly Launching Military Satellites Into Space|date=March 1, 2012|work=National Defense|access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref> economically.