Dec 17 1969
From The Space Library
SNAP -27 nuclear generator placed on moon by Apollo 12 astronauts had continued to operate during first 28-day-and-night lunar cycle despite temperatures from -291°F to +283°F, AEC announced. It was producing more than 70 w of electricity to power five instruments deployed Nov. 19 to transmit lunar data. (AEC Release M-274)
NASA Aerobee 150 MI sounding rocket launched from WSMR with VAM-20 booster carried AFCRL payload to 127-mi (204.3-km) altitude. Objective was to calibrate Harvard College Observatory spectrometer on board orbiting OSO VI by studying active regions of sun simultaneously at 300-400 A with telemetering, grazing incidence, scanning EUV monochromator. Rocket and instruments functioned satisfactorily. (NASA Rpt SRL)
USAF took delivery of first operational C-5 Galaxy aircraft in ceremony at Lockheed-Georgia Co. plant in Marietta, Ga. Later, aircraft was flown to Altus AFB, Okla." for use by Military Airlift Command. (DOD Release 1078-69; USAF PIO)
Termination of Project Blue Book - USAF investigation of UFOs - was announced by Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., Secretary of the Air Force. Project's continuation could not be justified "on the ground of national security or in the interest of science." Decision was based on evaluation of Jan. 9 report by Univ. of Colorado, NAS review of Univ. of Colorado report, and USAF investigations of UFO reports since 1948. USAF had concluded: no UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by USAF had threatened U.S. security; there had been no evidence that "unidentified" sightings represented technological developments or principles beyond range of scientific knowledge; and there had been no evidence that "unidentified" sightings were extraterrestrial vehicles. Project Blue Book records would be retired to USAF archives at Maxwell AFB, Ala. (DOD Release 1077-69)
National Investigations Committee for Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), 10,000-member private UFO-investigating group, released statement on termination of USAF Project Blue Book: "Congress can now discuss the possibility of turning over UFO investigations to a civilian federal agency or a private scientific organization." USAF decision "increases the need for an active program of research and education." (NICAP Release)
London-to-Sydney Air Race commemorating first England-to-Australia flight in 1919 by Ross and Keith Smith started at Gatwick Airport near London, with 89 entries competing for $112,000 in prizes. (NYT, 1/5/70, 61)
Dr. Thomas O. Paine, NASA Administrator, in letter to Sen. Clinton P. Anderson, Chairman of Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, summarized recent NASA efforts to improve international cooperation in space. He had visited major European capitals and Canada and hoped to visit Australia and Japan, to explain "planning for U.S. space activities in the next decades." Foreign space authorities had been invited to "sponsor their own industrial participation in the NASA conference on space shuttle concepts" held in October . "Additional mechanisms are being developed to permit foreign space interests to keep in touch with and even contribute to our studies over the next year, especially in the space shuttle and station programs." In letters to President Mstislav V. Keldysh and Academician Anatoly A. Blagonravov of Soviet Academy of Sciences Dr. Paine had invited Soviet proposals for experiments on U.S. spacecraft, offered use of laser reflector left on moon by Apollo 11 astronauts, invited Soviet proposals for lunar sample analysis, invited Soviet scientists to Viking Mars 1973 conference, offered to discuss coordination of planetary programs, and reiterated U.S. readiness "to meet anytime, any place, to consider any possibilities for cooperation or coordination between us." There had been "no substantial response." (CR, 1/21/70, S259)
Senate, by vote of 58 to 22, rejected amendment submitted by Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) to strike from H.R. 14794, DOT FY 1970 appropriations bill, $80 million for SST development. (CR, 12/17/69, S17003, S17005-48)
Maj. Alexander P. de Seversky, long-time advocate of air power, received USAF Exceptional Service Award at Pentagon ceremony for "exceptionally meritorious service" to U.S. aviation from 1918 to 1969. (W Star, 12/18/69, A2)
Surprise had been expressed over enthusiastic reception in Moscow of U.S. lunar rock exhibit, Washington Evening Star editorial noted. There was really nothing surprising, however. "From a narrowly nationalistic point of view, the Russian people and the Soviet government can claim that, were it not for the early Russian successes in space, that piece of rock would still be resting on the moon. But it is more likely that the Russians, and the other peoples of the Earth, see the first moon landing for what it truly was: A triumph for the collective ingenuity of Man." (W Star, 12/17/69)
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