Aug 14 1967
From The Space Library
President Johnson, in a message to Congress on communications policy, announced that he was appointing a 15-man task force headed by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Eugene V. Rostow to formulate "a national communications policy." Among questions the group would examine were: (1) how soon would a domestic satellite system be economically feasible? (2) should a domestic system be general purpose or specialized? and (3) should there be more than one system? Task force's report was due in one year. The President also : (1) reaffirmed US. commitments made in 1962 and 1964 in support of the development of a global system of comsats "to make modern communications available to all nations"; (2) pledged US. support to the continuation of the INTELSAT consortium, saying, "we seek no domination of satellite communications to the exclusion of any other nation-or group of nations"; (3) stated that US. "should take no action in the establishment of a domestic [comsat] system which is incompatible with our support for a global system"; and (4) urged U.S.S.R. and the nations of Eastern Europe to join INTELSAT. "Here is a rare opportunity to join in an activity to bring benefits to all nations and loss to none." He suggested there might be an eventual linkage between Soviet Molniya system and INTELSAT system. The President concluded: "Historians may write that the human race survived or faltered because of how well it mastered the technology of this age. "Communications satellites now permit man's greatest gifts-sight, expression, human thoughts and ideas, to travel unfettered to any portion of our globe. The opportunity is within our grasp. We must be prepared to act." (PD, 8/21/67, 1146-54; WSJ, 8/15/67)
ComSatCorp Chairman James McCormack, welcoming President Johnson's message to Congress on communications policy, offered full cooperation "in forwarding the President's objective of bringing high quality, dependable satellite communications to users throughout h e world." He reaffirmed support of a "global system, and the continuation and expansion of [INTELSAT] as the foundation on which to build a permanent structure for this system." (ComSatCorp Release)
William S. Aiken, Jr., former Chief of Operations Research Branch, OART, was appointed Deputy Director, Aeronautical Vehicles Div., OART. (NASA Ann, 8/15/67)
NASA's Manned Space Flight Network would be tested for the first time with the unmanned Apollo 4 mission, tentatively scheduled for early October, Barry Kalb reported in the Washington Evening Star. Dr. Friedrich O. Von Bun, chief of GSFC's Mission and Trajectory Analysis Div., told Kalb in an interview that the "reliability of the system is 99.5 percent." Network included a new system, he said, which combined functions of tracking, signaling, and voice communication. Previously a separate system was required for each. Only certain portions of the network would be used for the Apollo 4 mission, Von Bun said. The entire system consisted of 13 earth orbit tracking stations, three deep-space stations (each with a backup unit), five tracking ships, and eight specially fitted jet aircraft. Three deep-space stations, located in Goldstone, Calif ., Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia, were designed specifically for "communicating with vehicles at lunar distance." (Kalb, W Star, 8/14/67, A6)
National Aeronautics and Space Council was accumulating data on various approaches to earth resources satellites with the goal of forcing competing agencies to agree on a single coordinated program for FY 1969, Aerospace Technology reported. A decision was expected by mid-September. The Depts. of Interior and Agriculture favored an operational program, but NASA believed current technology justified only an R&D approach at this time. (Aero Tech, 8/14/67,3)
Electronics Research Center was studying a navigation satellite system capable of providing location information to ships and aircraft accurate to within 0.1 mi, Aerospace Technology reported. System would be competitive with recently declassified Navy Navigation Satellite System [see July 29], but would be aimed primarily at small users such as private aircraft and pleasure craft. User cost for receiving equipment would range from $1,000 to $5,000. Current phase of program involved three contractors: (1) Philco-Ford Corp., which had completed study on fan beam navigation satellites; (2) RCA, which was studying a hyperbolic L-band ranging system providing continuous radiation of the signal; and (3) TRW Systems which was designing a synchronous-orbit satellite system, also operating in the L-band. The next phase, pending NASA Hq. approval, was laboratory testing followed, possibly, by flight experiments in Applications Technology Satellite (ATS) or Apollo Applications (AA) program. (Aero Tech, 8/14/67, 10)
The time had come to "fix" the responsibility for the total results of US. technology, Michael Getler suggested in Aerospace Technology. There was no single group or agency to "link the broad spectrum of American technological development with social development. There is no single group with the expertise available to probe all forms of technology and its effects, to pump funds into a truly important new applied science not able to capture headlines, to speed the transfer of defense and space technology into other areas, and to put the special interest groups on the line for blockage of improvements within the state-of-the-art. There is no group directly responsible to the citizenry to develop and carry through legislation to try and save us from tomorrow's smog and urban clutter; for we have not, by a long shot, run out of self-inflicted ills. . . ." Getler urged that the overall responsibility be given to Congress. "It is the Legislative branch of Government, properly augmented with a permanent staff of specialists, that is best equipped to serve as a responsive arbiter between the good life of our people, the promise of technology, and the pressure of the marketplace." (Getler, Aero Tech, 8/14/67,62)
Soviet mathematician Dr. Alex M. Letov, visiting Huntsville for the Guidance, Control, and Flight Dynamics Conference sponsored by Alabama chapter of the MAA, said he supported the exchange of technical information between US. and U.S.S.R. After delivering an important technical paper, Letov remarked: "I am hopeful that I may have initiated some steps in this area of exchange. I am completely satisfied with my presentation and the response of the American scientist. In my report I will reflect this." One of the world's leading authorities on spacecraft guidance and control, Letov outlined a complex theory for stabilizing a large manned spacecraft, which he considered a major problem. "You can't consider the other problems of engineering if your system is not stable. It must be stable." (KC Star, 8/15/67)
August 14-18: US. scientists "still cannot provide definite protection from the biological hazards" of 1,000-day duration planetary mission, according to experts at Blacksburg, Va., Bioastronautics Conference, sponsored by VPI and NASA. Discussions had indicated: "Extremely long periods of ground simulation and experiments in space with animals will be necessary before man can undertake a 1,000-day journey to a near planet like Mars." Scientists had discussed several problem areas: ability of man to function in weightlessness for more than 90 days (midcourse goal of Apollo Applications program); weight, volume, and content of food, water and atmosphere requirements; and biological reactions of crew to spacecraft contaminants. Toxicologists considered reaction to be "most insidious potential problem" respiratory system taking on contaminants in "subtle, long-term reactions." (Normyle, Av Wk, 8/ 21/67,17; 9/11/67,75-8)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
