Dec 21 1977
From The Space Library
NASA reported it had scheduled 25 launches in 1978, 11 on Deltas and 8 on Atlas Centaurs. It would provide support for 3 Atlas-F launches from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. KSC would launch 10 of the Deltas and all the Atlas Centaurs; one Delta would go from the Western Test Range at VAB. Paying customers would subsidize 15 launches: ESA, ComSatCorp, the U.S. Navy, Japan, NOAA, the U.K., and Canada.
Whereas most of its 1977 launches were in the area of applications (communications, environmental, navigation, meteorological, earth resources, or geodetic), its 1978 mission would divide between applications and scientific missions almost equally. Scheduled in Jan. would be INTELSAT IV-A F-3 for ComSatCorp, FltSatCom-A for the Navy, and its own IUE; the INTELSAT IV-A F-6 would follow in Feb. March would see launch of NASA's Landsat-C and Japan's experimental broadcast satellite BSE. In April NASA would launch its own heat-capacity mapping mission (HCMM) and Comstar-C, as well as the backup OTS for ESA. May would see 4 launches: GOES-C, and NASA's Tiros-N, Pioneer Venus-A, and SEASAT-A. Scheduled in June would be GEOS-B for ESA and a backup satellite for Japan. In July NASA would launch from Wallops on a Scout the UK-6 to measure radiation particles, and from KSC its own ISEE-C. August would see launch of NASA's Nimbus-G and Pioneer Venus-B. In Sept. NASA would launch NOAAA; a navsat for the Navy; and comsat NATO-IIIC. NASA would launch its own HEAO-B in Oct. Two launches set for Nov. would be Canada's Telesat-D and FltSatCom-B for the Navy. George F. Page, KSC's director for expendable vehicles, noted that the center's workload would be heavy with a schedule calling for 3 launches in Jan. and 2 each in some other months. (NASA Release 77-256; KSC Release 21 1-77)
MSFC reported that Mack Vinson of its personnel office had been one of only 25 people, and the only one from Alabama, selected for a 2-wk study tour in March 1978 of the Peoples Republic of China. The group, a delegation from the American Society for Public Administration, would view firsthand the ways in which PRC officials solved public policy and administrative issues. Other objectives would be to set up a 2-way interchange of administrative ideas and techniques, obtain information for use in university courses, and broaden understanding of China and its people. Vinson said the tour was a matter of personal interest and would be made at his own expense. He had been a member of ASPA since 1965 and was president of its northern Alabama section in 1975-76. (Marshall Star, Dec 21/77, 2)
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