Dec 2 1972
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R. launched Molniya 1-22 communications satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome to transmit radio communications and broadcast TV programs on the Orbita network to areas in north, Siberia, Soviet Far East, and Central Asia. Orbital parameters: 39 797-km (24 728.7-mi) apogee, 555-km (344.9-mi) perigee, 65° inclination and 11-hr 57-min period. (GSFC SSR, 12/31/72; Tass, FBIS-Sov, 12/4/72, Ll; SBD, 12/5/72, 143; 12/14/72, 197)
Apollo 17 astronauts flew proficiency runs in NASA T-38 jet aircraft from Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., while at Kennedy Space Center five mice were selected to fly on mission experiment. Mice had been selected from 40 small rodents brought from California desert as candidates for mouse-to-the-moon mission. They would remain in orbit around moon when lunar module descended to surface. (AP, B Sun, 12/3/72)
December 2-3: Chicago Daily News editorial commented on impact of Apollo program: "The costly moon race may have helped distort American thinking in a damaging way. If we can go to the moon, so the slogan ran, we can do anything-wipe out poverty, eradicate racism, guide the economy, cure every evil of society. The euphoria created by the burgeoning space program and the crowning successes of the landing may have contributed to the rise of expectations in other fields beyond any solid hope of their realization. Science and technology can do wonders, but social problems do not yield so readily to electronics or telemetry," (C Daily News, 12/2-3/72)
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