Dec 17 1974
From The Space Library
The U.S.S.R. launched Meteor 20 meteorological satellite from Plesetsk into orbit with an 896-km apogee, 841-km perigee, 102.3-min period, and 81.2° inclination. The satellite carried instruments to photo-graph clouds and snow cover on the day and night sides of the earth and collect data on thermal energy reflected and emitted by the earth and its atmosphere, for day-to-day weather service. (GSFC Wkly SSR, 12-18 Dec 74; Tass, FBIS-Sov, 19 Dec 74, U1 ; SBD, 19 Dec 74, 270)
17-19 December: A major review of the first Viking lander spacecraft was held at Langley Research Center. The lander was approved for shipment to Kennedy Space Center in January 1975. The review followed successful completion of critical surface simulation testing [see 18 Sept.-21 Oct., 24 Nov.-14 Dec.]. (Langley Researcher, 20 Dec 74)
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