Apr 26 1965
From The Space Library
A 37-man study group chaired by Dr. Colin Pittendrigh of Princeton Univ. and convened by the Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences at the request of NASA had reconfirmed the Academy's appeal for exploration of Mars to receive "the highest priority among all objectives in space science-indeed in the space program as a whole" and endorsed NASA plans to use the 1969-73 favorable Mars window for intensive study of the planet with the Voyager spacecraft, In its final report transmitted to NASA Administrator Webb, the group said that "given all evidence presently avail- able, we believe it entirely reasonable that Mars is inhabited with living organisms and that life independently originated there," and thus that "the biological exploration of Mars is a scientific undertaking of the greatest validity and significance." The panel noted, however, that "while we are eager to press Martian exploration as expeditiously as the technology and other factors permit, we insist that our recommendation to proceed is subject to one rigorous qualification: that no viable terrestrial microorganisms reach the Martian surface until we can make a confident assessment of the consequences." The group made seven basic recommendations: (1) "every opportunity for remote observation of Mars by earth-bound or balloon-and satellite-borne instruments should be exploited"; (2) "...An adequate program for Martian exploration cannot be achieved without using scientific payloads substantially larger than those currently employed in outer unmanned space research program. We see very substantial advantages in the use, from the onset, of the new generation of large boosters which are expected to become operational toward the end of the decade"; (3) since flyby missions "yield at best a fleeting glimpse of the planet" and carry a relatively small array of instruments, "we deliberately omit an explicit recommendation in favor of any flyby missions additional to those already executed or planned"; (4) "Every effort should be made to achieve a large orbiting mission by 1971 at the latest. This mission should precede the first lander . . By 'large' we mean a scientific payload that would include instrumentation for infrared and television mapping, microwave radiometry and bistatic radar, infrared spectrometry, and optical polarimetry' ; (5) "The first landing mission should be scheduled no later than 1973 and by 1971 if possible" and will "ultimately demand a large lander" like ABL (Automated Biological Lab) ; (6) "The task of designing an ABL should be initiated immediately as a continuing project"; and (7) to maintain "a continuing dialogue among all potential investigators and the engineers responsible for implementing their scientific goals," the Academy's Space Science Board should have a standing committee. (NAS Release; Abraham, Phil, Eve. Bull., 4/26/65; Hines, Wash. Eve. Star, 4/26/65, 2; Sullivan, NYT, 4/27/65, 1)
The Federal Communications Commission confirmed it expected to rule soon on who should own the initial American ground stations providing access to communications satellites. The established international carriers, including AT&T, RCA Communications, Western Union International, and ITT World Communications, had accused ComSatCorp of exceeding its statutory authority and demanded the right to share in the ownership of the ground stations. (Gould, NYT, 4/27/65, 1, 25)
Dr. Charles A. Berry, chief of medical operations at NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, had said that new body sensor equipment developed for astronauts had "stretched the doctor's stethoscope to reach 100 miles," reported Norm Spray in an article in the Houston Chronicle: "This could open the door for new types of medical research and treatment potentially as important to the family physician as to space scientists, Dr. Berry believes. " 'Right now,' he said, 'we think our sensing and monitoring system would be a tremendous tool in hospital recovery and intensive care rooms. " 'Basic medical data that is reliable and distortion-free could be fed from each patient to a central computer or console. Each patient could be watched as closely as if a nurse or even a doctor were constantly at his bedside.'" (Spray, WBE Sci. Serv., Houston Chron., 4/26/65)
Sen, Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) discussed in the Senate S. 1483, bill which he had introduced to establish a National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, He cited article by Frank Getlein on the recent "Eyewitness to Space" exhibition at the National Gallery of Art. Getlein's article showed "how cooperation between our Government and the arts can illuminate some of the most exciting moments in our important explorations in space." The exhibition contained some 70 paintings and drawings by 15 artists under the NASA art program. ".. . The work shows total freedom and a wide variety, ranging from the superb illustrationist's style of Paul Calle to the highly individual abstraction of Washington artist Alfred McAdams. ". . . The space effort, therefore, from Huntsville to the launching apparatus at Cape Kennedy, to the pickup system in the Pacific, is covered at once as a set of visual phenomena and an immensely varied set of artistic responses to those phenomena. . . . "The NASA art program is a modest step but a carefully made one in the gradually reemerging relationship between American art and the American Government. It deserves study by those interested in the larger problem." (Getlein, Wash. Eve. Star; CR, 4/26/65, 8122-23)
Groundbreaking ceremony for Univ. of Maryland's $15-million Space Science Building was held at the College Park, Md., campus. Dr. Homer E. Newell, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications, and Edward F. Holter, Vice Chairman of the Univ. of Maryland Regents, shoveled the first spadefuls of dirt. ( Wash. Post, 4/27/65, Al2)
Dr. Roman Smoluchowski of Princeton Univ. said at the American Physical Society's meeting in Washington, D.C., that there was no life on Mars. All seasonal changes in the color of the planet could be traced to bombardment of minerals with energetic radiation under varying temperatures. Dr. Jane Blizard of Boulder, Colo., also speaking at the APS meeting, suggested that any astronaut braving a 400-day journey to Mars would be likely to get a fatal dose of radiation. Maybe, she said, long range forecasting of solar storms can be perfected in time. Or maybe "superconductive magnetic doughnuts" could be devised to shield spacecraft from barrages of protons spewed out in solar storms. (Hines, Wash. Eve. Star, 4/27/65)
Jean Delorme, president of France's L'Aire Liquide and head of Eurospace, said he believed there could be no large-scale European space program without formation of a European equivalent to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He called for establishment of a central coordinating body that would be the supranational European NASA, with the power to make financial decisions. Delorme was addressing opening of 12-day U.S.-Eurospace conference in Philadelphia. (AP, NYT, 2/27/65, 17)
Dr. Paul Herget, professor and director of the Univ. of Cincinnati Observatory, was awarded the James Craig Watson Medal of the National Academy of Sciences "for important contributions to the field of celestial mechanics, and particularly his application of electronic-computer techniques to calculations of the orbits of comets, earth satellites, and asteroids," He previously had responsibility for developing operations of the Vanguard Computing Center, which provided tracking information on early scientific satellites, Henry Draper Medal for original investigation in astronomical physics was awarded in absentia to British radioastronomer Martin Ryle. (NAS Release; NAS-NRC News Report, 4/65, 4)
Speaking before the Fourth Symposium on Advanced Propulsion Concepts in Palo Alto, Calif, Gen. Bernard A. Schriever, AFSC Commander, said that the Air Force was studying the possibility of using hydrogen-burning, supersonic combustion ramjet engines, known as Scramjet, to power hypersonic aircraft: "The Scramjet is the most promising approach we have today for sustained hypersonic flight ... it could be used effectively on hypersonic aircraft with both military and commercial applications." He said experience gained with the research airplane might lead to the hypersonic aircraft and could make feasible the development of recoverable launch vehicles for flight speeds up to about 8,000 mph. This would permit delivery of very large payloads into space at far greater economy than is presently possible. (Text, AFSC News Release 65,65)
DOD had asked NASA to consider using Minuteman I missiles scheduled to be removed from their silos, as launch vehicles, Missiles and Rockets reported. NASA Hq, transferred study to Langley Research Center, LaRC was expected to complete its feasibility investigation in three to four weeks. (M&R, 4/26/65, 7; LaRC)
Maj. Gen. Don R. Ostrander, Commander of USAF's Office of Aerospace Research, said at the Fourth Symposium on Advanced Propulsion Concepts in Palo Alto, Calif., that important changes in America's research and development posture during the past few years "are the result of the more stringent requirements that must be met before increasingly complex and expensive systems can be approved for development," He continued: "These changes have placed more emphasis on research and exploratory development, "Coupling-or reducing the time lag between discovery and application-is the proposed solution for accomplishing this tremendous task. The problem of coupling is the problem of time..." (OAR Release 4 65-3)
Passage of bills concerned with freedom of information was urged by William J. Coughlin in an editorial in Missiles and Rockets: "Intent of the bills is to establish a Federal public records law and to permit court enforcement of the people's right to know the facts of government, Providing for sensible exceptions in the case of sensitive and classified information, the proposed law would require every agency of the government to make all its records promptly available to any person... "The onus for restrictive news management usually falls on the Dept. of Defense, and rightly so, but there are a number of individuals in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration who are inclined to regard the agency as a preserve which should be off limits to the press. It is to the credit of Administrator James E. Webb that he has a consistent record of correcting abuses of press freedom that are called to his attention. The same cannot be said of his counterpart in the Defense Department." (M&R, 4/25/65)
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