Apr 17 1968
From The Space Library
USAF launched unidentified satellite from Vandenberg AFB using III-B-Agena D booster. Satellite entered orbit with 262-mi (421.6-km) apogee, 79-mi (127.1-km) perigee, 89.9-min period, and 111A° inclination and reentered April 29. (Pres Rpt 68; UPI W Post, 4/18/68; SBD, 4/18/68, 275; GSFC SSR, 4/30/68)
NASA Marc 42A2 Arcas booster launched from NASA Wallops Station carried GSFC payload to 4.8-mi (7.8-km) altitude in ballistic performance evaluation test. Booster and instruments performed satisfactorily; ballistic parameters agreed closely with predictions. (NASA Rpt SRL)
Charles W. Mathews, Director of NASA Apollo Applications Program, told National Space Club in Washington, D.C., NASA's manned space plan, beyond first Apollo landing, "contemplates a balanced activity of lunar exploration and extension of man's capabilities in earth orbit." Program had been designed for flexibility so activities could be conducted in harmony with available resources. "We are also prepared to move forward at an increased pace when it is desirable and possible to do so." Both civil benefits and national security implications of space program warranted continued strong support. Contingency planning would leave more room for budgetary or goal changes, thus placating critics in Congress who claimed NASA had not provided them with sufficient flexibility. (Text: Lannan, W Star, 4/18/68, A5; AP, B Sun, 4/18/68, All)
Sen. Margaret C. Smith (R-Me.), ranking member of Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, on Senate floor presented General Accounting Office review of source selection and award of major subcontract by NASA and its prime contractor, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., for development of landing and rendezvous radar equipment for Apollo lunar module, compiled at her request. Sen. Smith explained that although another electronics firm had expressed interest in performing under fixed-price contract, RCA had received contract because of agreement between Grumman and RCA "before the requirements and specifications for the radar components had been defined." Noting that RCA estimated cost of $23.4 million had now increased to about $112 million, she suggested that if Grumman radar subcontract was illustrative of how NASA "maintains surveillance over its appropriated funds, it would appear that substantial savings could be realized merely by strengthening the agency's contracting practices." (NASA LAR VII/36; CR, 4/17/68, S4138 46; AP, B Sun, 4/23/68, A5)
NASA had awarded Aerojet-General Corp.'s Space Div. $316,776 contract to perform preliminary design of spacecraft for basic research on frog's balance mechanism (otolith) under weightlessness and repeated acceleration. Project, initial step in NASA's Human Factor Systems program to investigate primary balance mechanism within inner ear, would be managed by NASA Wallops Station under direction of Office of Advanced Research and Technology. ARC would be responsible for otolith experiment package designed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. (WS Release 68-8; NASA Release 68-71)
MSFC awarded nine-month, $99,000 contract to Raymond Loewy/William Snaith, Inc., to conduct habitability studies of planned earth orbital space stations. Basic goal would be to ensure that workshop configura- tions were comfortable and functional structures in which to live and work. (MSFc Release 68-79)
Naval Research Laboratory scientist, Dr. Richard C. Henry, speaking at dedication of Dam's new E. 0. Hulburt Center for Space Research in Washington, D.C., presented data strongly supporting closed universe concept. Aerobee sounding rocket launched from White Sands Missile Range Sept. 7, 1967, carrying soft x-ray detector, had detected radiation from large, unexpected amount of thinly spread intergalactic hydrogen gas, evidence of existence of intergalactic matter previously supposed but undetected. Amount detected indicated presence of 100 times as much matter between galaxies as in all stars in universe-enough to fill up all space and satisfy all theoretical requirements for a closed universe. (Text; Cohn, W Post, 4/18/68, 1)
Editorial comment on Soviet space achievements, including successful orbiting of Luna XIV and docking of Cosmos CCXII and CCM, urged U.S. to acknowledge challenge: "The Soviet Union's sense of purpose in space is apparently as steady and unwavering as it ever was. The U.S. .. after coming up fast from behind in a wave of feverish anxiety and enthusiasm, now seems to have lost interest. That could be a dangerous-even fatal-tendency in an age where space is of key importance to the security of the Nation. It should be reversed, before great harm is done." (P Inq, 4/17/68)
"If we muff what now looks like a good chance to beat the Russians to the moon with manned space ships, the prestige loss to this nation will probably be immeasurable. And if our space people aren't paying at least as much attention as the Russians to the military possibilities of space, then we are in grave danger and growing more so. All of which adds up . . . to a whole string of dire warnings to Congress not to be stingy about space projects of any description." (NY News, 4/17/68)
USAF F-111A aircraft crash March 30 in Thailand had been caused by "a mechanic's mistake, not by a flaw in design," U.S. military command announced. Recovered aircraft revealed that pilots lost control of aircraft because tube of sealant normally used to seal fuel tanks was left loose in aircraft, hardened during low-temperature flight, and jammed flight-control system. Loss of another F-111A March 28 remained mystery and search in Thailand area where it presumably crashed had ended unsuccessfully. (UPI, W Post, 4/16/68, A8; Carroll, B Sun, 4/18/68, A5)
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