Apr 26 1967
From The Space Library
Italy's San Marco II (San Marco B) scientific satellite was successfully launched from Mobile Launcher in the Indian Ocean off coast of Kenya, Africa. Four-stage NASA Scout launch vehicle boosted satellite into equatorial orbit with 748-km (465-mi) apogee; 219-km (136-mi) perigee; 94-min period; and 2.9° inclination. The 285lb satellite-first to be launched from a platform at sea-would measure air density by monitoring spacecraft's drag forces and investigate ionospheric characteristics which interfered with long-range radio transmissions. Sun Marco II was second Italian satellite to be launched under May 31, 1962, cooperative agreement between NASA and Italian Space Commission (ISC) . First satellite, Sun Marco I , was successfully launched from NASA Wallops Station Dec. 15, 1964. San Marco was a mutual program of NASA and ISC with no exchange of funds. NASA supplied launch vehicle and provided personnel training and tracking and data acquisition services. ISC was responsible for design, fabrication, and testing of payloads and for launching of satellite built by Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali (CRA) of the Univ. of Rome. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-93; WS Release 67-17)
NASA test pilot William H. Dana made successful emergency landing of X-15 No. 3 at Edwards AFB after low pressure developed in fuel pump. (AP, B Sun, 4/27/67)
Ashes of Soviet Cosmonaut Col. Vladimir M. Komarov were buried in the Kremlin wall in a military funeral attended by Premier Aleksey N. Kosygin, President Nikolay V. Podgorny, and other high Government leaders and scientists. Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin, in a brief speech, pledged that Soviet cosmonauts would "continue the cause" for which Komarov gave his life. A NASA spokesman said plans to send US. Astronauts Leroy Gordon Cooper and Frank Borman to funeral had been abandoned because U.S.S.R. denied permission, saying it was an internal Soviet affair. (AP, W Star, 4/26/67, A24; NYT, 4/27/67, 3; UPI, W Post, 4/27/67, A4)
Rep. William F. Ryan (D-N.Y.) , in statement on the House floor, charged that NASA refused to release the Phillips Report because "the truth concerning NASA's failure properly to supervise Apollo operations and incredible mismanagement on the part of NASA's major Apollo contractor is highly embarrassing." He said that if NASA failed to officially release the report by April 29, he would make the full text available to the press. "In a democracy no agency should be permitted to withhold critical information for its own protection. On the contrary, the public which, at a tremendous cost is financing NASA's efforts in space, has a right to know how its money is being spent." (CR, 4/26/67, H4733)
New York Times praised Senate ratification of the space law treaty April 25 and called for increased international cooperation in space: "Ideally, the probing of space and the planets would be the province of a World Space Organization affiliated with the United Nations, financed by the contributions of all nations desiring to participate, and drawing upon the technical manpower and knowledge of all nations. This international organization could be the owner of the moon and other solar bodies, arranging for the exploitation of resources found there, and using any extraterrestrial profits for the benefit of all men. "It will take much time before such an ideal can be reached. But even now the more sober spirit evident in Moscow and Washington opens the door to greater bilateral cooperation. Both nations have technical knowledge in this field that they could exchange to their mutual advantage. Their space tracking and rescue facilities could be coordinated into a single world system; they could agree on a division of labor that would eliminate such duplication as is represented by Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter. The result could easily be major savings in money and increased safety for all astronauts, regardless of nationality." (NYT, 4/26/67)
James Smith McDonnell, founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corp., received National Academy of Engineering's second Founders Medal at NAE's third Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Medal honored "outstanding contributions by an engineer both to his profession and to society." (NAE Release)
Former NASA Associate Administrator for Advanced Research and Technology Dr. Raymond L. Bisplinghoff was among 45 new members and 10 foreign associates elected to MAS. (NYT, 4/27/67,57)
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