Aug 1 1973
From The Space Library
Cosmos 578 was launched by the U.S.S.R. from Plesetsk into orbit with a 251-km (156-mi) apogee, 202-km (125.5-mi) perigee, 89.0-min period, and 65.4° inclination. The satellite reentered Aug. 13. (GSFC SSR, 8/3/73; SBD, 8/3/73, 175)
NASA test pilot John A. Manke successfully piloted the X-24B lifting body on its first glide flight, launched at 12000-m (40 000-ft) altitude from a B-52 aircraft from Flight Research Center. Manke maneuvered the X-24B to evaluate its flight characteristics and made a practice approach at 9000 m (30 000 ft) that ended successfully in a 320-km-per-hr (200 mph) unpowered landing on the dry lake bed near FRC, after the four-minute flight. The first captive flight of the double-delta-shaped vehicle, in the joint NASA and Air Force research program studying possible hypersonic aircraft configurations, had been made July 19. (NASA prog off; NASA Release 73-147; LA Her-Exam, 8/2/73)
The House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight held a hearing on the Skylab 1 Investigation Report [see July 13]. A Senate hearing had been held July 30. Lewis Research Center Director Bruce T. Lundin, Skylab 1 Investigation Board Chairman, testified that the failure to recognize design deficiencies in the Orbital Workshop's meteoroid shield that led to its loss during the May 14-June 22 Skylab 1-2 mission and the failure to communicate the importance of proper venting of the shield must be attributed to "an absence of sound engineering judgment and alert engineering leader-ship . . over a considerable period of time." There had been no evidence to indicate that "the design, development and testing of the meteoroid shield were compromised by limitations of funds or time. The quality of workmanship applied to the shield was adequate for its intended purpose." Testing emphasis on ordnance performance and shield deployment had been appropriate. "Engineering and management personnel on Skylab, on the part of both contractor and Government, were available from the prior Saturn development and were thus highly experienced and adequate in number."
The Investigation Board had suggested corrective action: omit the meteoroid shield on any future Workshops, coat the Workshop for thermal control, and rely on meteoroid protection from the Workshop tank walls. If further protection was required, the Board had favored a fixed, nondeployable shield. To reduce the probability of separation failures as had occurred at Saturn S-II interstage second separation plane, linear-shaped charges should be detonated simultaneously from both ends, and all ordnance applications should be reviewed for a similar failure mode. Structural systems that had to move or deploy, or that required other mechanisms or components for operation, should not be considered solely as structure; and complex, multidisciplinary systems should have a designated project engineer. NASA Associate Deputy Administrator Willis H. Shapley described NASA'S actions to prevent recurrence of the Skylab Orbital Workshop anomalies: "We established an independent Investigation Board, have accepted the Board's report, and have directed all our program and project people to examine their projects in light of the findings of the Board. We will follow up to see that changes in formal management systems are made when required." (Transcript)
The House passed by a vote of 401 to 9 the conference report on H.R. 8825, FY 1974 Dept. of Housing and Urban Development-Space-Science-Veterans appropriations bill that included a $3.002-billion NASA appropriation [see July 26]. (CR, 8/1/73, H7109-16)
U.S. Embassy officials in Moscow presented to U.S.S.R. President Nikolay V. Podgorny, on behalf of President Nixon, a lunar sample brought from the moon by the Dec. 7-19, 1972, Apollo 17 mission. Podgorny said in accepting the sample that preparations were "successfully continuing" for the July 1975 U.S.-U.S.S.R. Apollo Soyuz Test Project mission. He wished "all success" to the Skylab 3 astronauts (launched July 28 to work in the Orbital Workshop launched May 14). (W Star-News, 8/2/73, A2)
The Senate confirmed the nomination of L/G. Samuel C. Phillips, Director of the National Security Agency and former NASA Apollo Program Director, to be an Air Force general. Gen. Phillips became Commander of the Air Force Systems Command. (CR, 8/1/73, S15382; DOD Release 368-73)
The British Interplanetary Society issued a statement to the press follow-ing the July 31 decision by the European Space Conference to create a European Space Agency by April 1, 1974: "Acceptance of a European mini-NASA now promises great rewards for European industry. Long-standing neglect of central management in European space affairs has led to waste of limited resources and frustrated Europe's entry into potentially profitable markets. With ESA, Europe now has a chance to work at the space frontier alongside the United States and to develop other space capabilities of enormous social and economic importance. (Gatland, SF, 10/73, 384-5)
NASA launched two Nike-Apache sounding rockets from Kiruna, Sweden, carrying Dudley Observatory and Univ. of Stockholm experiments to collect and identify particulate matter from noctilucent clouds in the upper atmosphere. The first rocket reached a 109-km (67.7-mi) altitude. The second rocket, launched 30 min later, reached 111 km (69.0 mi) . Rockets and instrumentation performed satisfactorily and all experimental objectives were achieved. (NASA Rpts SRL)
The Senate Committee on Armed Services voted 8 to 7 to cut $885 million from the $1.7 billion requested by the Nixon Administration for the Trident missile-launching submarine program in FY 1974. The Com-mittee was considering S. 1263, an FY 1974 military procurement authorization bill. (CR, 8/1/73, D950; Finney, NYT, 8/3/73, 8)
Rep. Bill Gunter (D-Fla.) and Rep. Charles A. Vanik (D-Ohio) introduced H.R. 9785 to provide for "a coherent rational program of energy research and development." Under the proposed program a five-member Energy Research and Development Commission would develop a national energy R&D policy and the National Science Foundation would collect resources information in a research data base. (CR, 8/1/73, E5279-81)
Federal support to universities and colleges rose $643 million, or 18%, to $4.1 billion from FY 1971 to FY 1972, the National Science Foundation reported. Federal academic science funding increased by $256 million, or 11%, to $2.6 billion. Federal support of academic research and development activities rose by $302 million, or 19%, to $1.9 billion. The life sciences received $896 million in 1972-21%, more than in 1971; environmental sciences received $187 million, up 38%; and engineering received $193 million, up 22%. (NSF Highlights, 8/1/73)
August 1-10: Two Soviet research ships and one U.S. and one Mexican vessel participated in the GARP International Sea Trial (GIST) project, part of the Global Atmospheric Research Program to improve weather forecasting. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's research vessel Researcher met Soviet ships Academician Korolev and Ernst Krenkel in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Virgin Islands to make a series of simultaneous instrumented observations of the atmosphere and the ocean. The 10-day project would be followed in June 1974 by a 100-day effort in which research ships from 11 countries, 11 aircraft, and 5000 scientists would participate. (NSF Release 73-174; NSF PIO)
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