Aug 16 1973
From The Space Library
NASA announced tentative plans to observe the Comet Kohoutek during the Skylab 4 mission, planned for Nov. 9 launch to join the Skylab Orbital Workshop. The Apollo Telescope Mount instruments provided a broad capability for comet observations over a range of spectral bands. Observations would begin in mid-November and continue until shortly before mission completion, scheduled for Jan. 4, 1974. The tentative plans would be reviewed after the completion of the Skylab 3 mission (launched July 28), If technical problems necessitated an earlier launch to minimize the length of unmanned operations, it would not be possible to observe the comet. A possible 10-day delay of the launch beyond Nov. 10 would also be considered, to permit observation of the comet until Jan. 14. NASA also deleted the requirement to maintain the capability to launch the backup Workshop, which originally was to have been maintained to Sept. 30. (NASA Release 73-162)
NASA announced selection of Martin Marietta Corp. for negotiation of a $107-million cost-plus-award-fee contract for the design, development. test, and evaluation of the space shuttle external tank. The development phase would include fabrication of three ground-test tanks and six developmental flight tanks. The contract would run through 1978. (NASA Release 73-163)
College student participants in a 10-week Summer Institute for Biomedical Engineering at Goddard Space Flight Center presented results of the study cosponsored by GSFC and Howard Univ. Ten students had worked to solve problems in health care by applying NASA space age technology. Experiments had included obtaining data from 40 electrocardiogram electrodes simultaneously without using bulky and time-consuming equipment, disposing of anesthetic fumes exhaled by patients during surgery, using space tools to weigh premature infants without removing them from a controlled environment, measuring stresses in human bones, and researching deafness. (NASA Release 72-152)
NASA launched two Arcas sounding rockets from Antigua, West Indies, carrying Goddard Space Flight Center experiments to measure ozone distribution in the upper atmosphere, monitor anomalous ultraviolet absorption, and extend the data base for a climatology of stratospheric ozone in the tropics. Both launches were in conjunction with a Nimbus 4 satellite (launched April 8, 1970) overpass. The first Arcas reached a 52.7-km (32.7-mi) altitude. Ejection of the payload-parachute unit was accomplished, but the nosecone remained attached to the instrumentation section shielding the sensors from the atmosphere. No data were acquired. The second Arcas, launched 80 min later, reached a 51.2-km (31.8-mi) altitude but the payload-parachute unit did not eject and no data were received. (NASA Rpts SRL)
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