Dec 8 1964
From The Space Library
Apollo spacecraft (BP-23) was subjected to simulated catastrophic failure of its launch vehicle in a successful test of the abort escape system at White Sands, N. Mex. Apollo command and service boilerplate modules were boosted on a Little Joe II launch vehicle to the region of maximum dynamic pressure at 29,000-ft. altitude and launch vehicle failure was simulated. The escape vehicle, mated to the spacecraft by a connecting tower, yanked the Apollo free of Little Joe and carried it almost two miles higher. The Little Joe rocket fell to earth; the Apollo modules were returned gently to the ground by three 88-ft. parachutes. This was the third successful test of functioning of the 33-ft. launch escape tower designed to jettison the command module and three Apollo astronauts to safety in an abort before or during the launch phase of a Saturn V mission. It was the first test of the boost-protective cover subsystem, a contoured shell fitting over the command module and designed to protect the docking mechanism of Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) from excessive heating during high temperatures of first-stage flight. It also protected command module Windows from exhaust of the launch escape motor. (NASA Release 64-299)
A Saturn S-IVB stage began a 6,000-mi. land, sea, and river trip from the Douglas Missile and Space Systems Div., Calif., to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. At MSFC, the stage would be mated with a first stage of the Saturn IB, built by MSFC and modified by the Chrysler Corp., and an Apollo spacecraft. Tests of the assembly would check the complete Saturn-Apollo vehicle for its ability to withstand vibrations and other stresses expected in flight. (Marshall Star, 12/9/64, 1-2)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NASA announced the award of a contract for master planning of NASA's $60 million Electronics Research Center to the joint venture firms of Edward Durell Stone, New York City; Giffels and Rossetti, Detroit; and Charles A. Maguire Associates, Boston-Providence. The contract was awarded by the New England Division of the Corps of Engineers, which had been designated by the Electronics Research Center as NASA'S design and construction agent for the buildings to be located on a 29-acre site at Kendall Sq., Cambridge, Mass. (NASA Release 64-307)
Three contracts were awarded by NASA Lewis Research Center to Hughes Aircraft Co. The first contract, totaling $1,151,370, was a 12-mo. continuation of a previous contract for research and development of a contact ion engine using cesium as a propellant. The other two con-tracts were also follow-on efforts: a contract for $202,915 provided for fabrication of porous alloy and solid sintered ionizers; a contract for $243,061 covered tests and evaluation of physical, electrical, and cesium ionization properties of porous ionizers and evaluation of the electrical properties of solid sintered ionizer material. (LRC Release 64-114)
NASA Lewis Research Center awarded a $2,315,400 contract to Rocketdyne Div. of North American Aviation, Inc., for design, development, and testing of an Atlas launch vehicle sustainer engine that would use flox (liquid fluorine and liquid oxygen). The contract provided for firing a complete Atlas sustainer engine for the first time using flox as the oxidizer; RP-1, a type of kerosene, would still be the fuel. (NASA Release 64-306; LRC Release 64-113) [[ ComSatCorp]] asked 16 companies to propose studies on how to judge the merits of launch vehicles which could be used to put medium-altitude communications satellites into orbit around the earth. ComSatCorp told FCC it planned to launch its first satellite, the Early Bird, in March as a communication link between Europe and North America. The Early Bird would be able to transmit two-way telephone conversations, television computer data, and other types of communications as an experiment in synchronous satellites, placed above the equator at an altitude of 22,300 miles. (ComSatCorp Release; NYT, 12/9/64)
A team of Canadian scientists from McGill Univ., conducting Project Harp (High Altitude Research Program), was using a 250-ton, 16-in. naval gun to launch scientific rockets to heights of nearly 100 mi. The method was both reliable and economical (more than 80 shots had been fired, most of which Were successful) , and the launch procedure relatively simple. Objective of experiments was to find the secret of the lower ionosphere's influence on radio communications. Dr. Gerald Bull, who conceived the idea of Project Harp, said that a new technique was being developed whereby a combination of gun and rocket could place a 100-lb. payload in earth orbit. (Jeffrey, London Daily Telegraph, 12/8/64, 14)
New York Times reported that scientists might use an infrared radiometer to predict location and time of future volcanoes. The scanner had already detected heat changes in the earth's surface in volcanic areas in Hawaii that correlated with later volcanic eruptions. (Sci. Serv., NYT, 12/8/64, 60)
USAF successfully launched the fifth Asset re-entry test vehicle in its series of six from Cape Kennedy. The glider rode pickaback aboard a single-stage Thor booster. (Wash. Post, 12/9/64; M&R, 12/14/64, 10)
The first landing by computer alone was made by a United Air Lines Caravelle jet at Dulles International Airport, Washington. With no directions from the pilot, the machine brought down the aircraft, constantly judging correct altitude, rate of descent, and speed and bringing the craft in line with its decisions. In bad weather, the system would make possible a computer landing at 100-ft ceiling and quarter-mile visibility. Manual landing limits were 200-ft. and one half mile. (Tuck, Wash. Post, 12/9/64)
NIMBUS I meteorological satellite, which had lost its electric power and stopped functioning Sept 23, revived and was returning useful engineering data. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center said the solar paddles, which had been locked, had apparently directed themselves at the sun long enough to recharge the spacecraft's batteries but the gas for stabilization had been exhausted and the craft was tumbling at about 15 rpm. This caused photographs to be fuzzy and useless. (GSFC Release G-64-34)
Soviet Union said it continued to be in "stable" contact with ZOND then 133 million mi. from earth. No further reference was made to a partial power failure aboard the craft. (NYT, 12/8/64, 54)
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center awarded a $2 million contract to Motorola's Western Military Electronics Div, to develop the Airborne Ranging Orbital Determination (AROD) system. (M&R, 12/14/64, 21)
Radio Corp. of America introduced a new line of computers using tiny silicon chip circuits (monolithic integrated circuitry) . A silicon chip circuit would barely cover a typewritten "o," but would contain two electronic circuits with 15 transistors and 13 resistors. The line was named Spectra 70 because RCA felt it would provide a complete spectrum of computing, peripheral, and communications equipment, and would meet the full range of system and application requirements of science and industry. ( Wash. Post, 12/9/64)
On the eve of his 85th birthday, M/G Benjamin D. Foulois (USA, Ret.) was honored for his achievements in aviation at a dinner at Andrews, AFB. General Foulois, Who was the United States' first military pilot, was inducted into the Primus Club-an elite group of aerospace pioneers-and hailed as "a living link between the age of the Wright Brothers and today's astronauts." (Raymond, NYT, 12/9/64, 53)
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