Aug 4 1975
From The Space Library
NASA announced completion of a program conducted by Jet Propulsion Laboratory to measure the constituent gases of the stratosphere to help determine the effects on the earth's ozone layer of gases released from aerosol spray cans. Using a Fourier interferometer onboard a U-2 aircraft, JPL scientists had measured the distribution of hydrogen chloride molecules at altitudes between 10 and 21 km during 6 separate flights in May. Hydrogen chloride-produced by the breakdown of aerosol gas molecules in the upper atmosphere and released naturally, in small amounts, from the ocean surface and volcanic eruptions-was one of several trace gases thought to play a major role in controlling the equilibrium of the protective ozone layer. JPL had found traces of the chloride beginning at 15 km, and reaching a maximum of almost 1 part per billion at 20 km. Although the results did not represent a direct effect of aerosol gas, or Freons, on stratospheric ozone, JPL scientists recommended continuing measurements to detect any future buildup.
The ozone measurements, part of NASA's Stratospheric Research Program, had begun when a JPL-designed instrument was flown on the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic transport in 1973. Data collected on these flights included the first detection of nitric oxide, along with new information on the geographic and vertical distribution of water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane, and furnished a base for the 1975 study. (NASA Release 75-223; Miles, LA Times, 21 Aug 75)
The Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS), an aeronautical facility designed to reproduce up-and-down and sideways motions of aircraft during takeoff and landing, was being built at Ames Research Center, NASA announced. Costing about $3.5 million, the VMS would move as much as 18 m in height and 12 m sideways, accurately simulating flare and touchdown. Practice in the simulator would enable pilots to cope better with the complexities of flying sophisticated aircraft such as short takeoff and landing (STOL) and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) types. (NASA Release 75-224)
Michael Collins, Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, and Santiago Astrain, Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, signed an agreement to transfer three early INTELSAT communications satellites to the Museum as part of its 1976 inaugural display. INTELSAT was providing the museum with a backup model of the INTELSAT's Early Bird 1, launched 6 Apr. 1965 as the first commercial comsat. A backup model of the second-generation INTELSAT II and an engineering model of third-generation INTELSAT III satellites would also be sent for display. Fourth-generation satellites would not be represented because they were too large for display.
The new Air and Space Museum, located in Washington, D.C., was scheduled to open 4 July 1976. (INTELSAT Release 75-9)
Westar communications satellites would soon be used for communications to and from offshore oil drilling platforms and exploratory vessels in waters adjacent to the continental U.S., Western Union Telegraph Co. announced. The offshore facilities previously had depended for communication on microwave relay networks and cabling, methods that had become increasingly expensive and impractical as the facilities were moved farther and farther off shore. (Westar news release, 4 Aug 75)
"Technology will be available for manned flights well before the year 2000, allowing even better research of the planet's [Mars'] composition," Dr. George Sands, associate Viking Project scientist at Langley Research Center, stated in an interview with the Newport News Times Herald. "The Viking missions [scheduled for August launch] ate just the prelude of things to come." Dr. Sands continued, "The results of [the] probe to Mars this month will be very significant for the future of planetary exploration and additional trips to Mars." (Biggins, Times Herald, 4 Aug 75)
Marshall Space Flight Center was seeking industry proposals for procurement of parallel definition studies of the atmospheric, magnetospheric, and plasmas in space (AMPS) payload, a reusable research facility to be integrated with Spacelab. The proposed 12-mo studies were to define an overall AMPS program with special emphasis on ground- and flight-support systems and subsystems, systems engineering and integration, and ground/orbital operations with the Space Shuttle and Spacelab.
AMPS, a single laboratory system flown with the Space Shuttle, would perform experiments and observations in atmospheric science, magnetospheric physics, and plasma physics. (MSFC Release 75-172)
4-6 August: The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, at its 1975 aircraft systems and technology meeting in Los Angeles, Calif., presented the following aerospace awards. (AIAA Release, 22 July 75)
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