Aug 29 1969
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos CCXCVI from Baikonur into orbit with 299-km (185.8-mi) apogee, 227-km (141.1-mi) perigee, 89.6- min period, and 64.9° inclination. Satellite reentered Sept. 6. (GSFC SSR, 8/31/69; 9/15/69; SBD, 9/3/69, 9; UN Public Registry)
Some plants treated with lunar dust in early August were showing unexpected responses. Treated plants-including seedlings of several common food plants like wheat, tomatoes, cucumbers, and limes-were generally huskier and slightly greener than untreated plants. NASA statement said: "The seedlings challenged with lunar materials uniformly look better than the controls (untreated plants). Germination in the presence of lunar soil indicates that it is behaving like a source of nutrients." Plant cells in tissue culture showed "some evidence of subtle change as a result of lunar inoculation." Dr. J. A. Vozzo, plant pathologist at Lunar Receiving Laboratory, emphasized that changes were minor and could not yet be positively attributed to lunar dust. (Cohn, W Post, 8/30/69, Al)
NASA selected General Electric Co. to receive three-year, $4-million, cost-plus-award-fee contract with two-year option to provide engineering and mission-related support to LaRC for Viking Project-series of planetary probes which would begin softlanding on Mars in 1973. (NASA Release 69-128)
New determination of abundance of water in Mars atmosphere was reported in Science by Illinois Institute of Technology astronomers Tobias Owen and Harold P. Mason. New spectrograms of planet had been obtained in region of water-vapor band at 8,200 A during February and March 1969. Amount of precipitable water was found to be about 15 A. Abundance reaffirmed that some water was present at current epoch but otherwise had little bearing on evolution of Martian atmosphere. Water vapor did not imply liquid water existed on Martian surface. (Science, 8/29/69, 893-5)
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