Feb 10 1972
From The Space Library
Apparent failure of electronic component had caused loss of major portions of data from two of three scientific experiments on board particles and fields Subsatellite placed in lunar orbit by Apollo 15 Aug. 4, 1971, NASA announced. Affected experiments- magnetometer and particles experiment-appeared to be functioning normally, but not all data could be received from them. Data controlled by 2 of 12 gates which released data in proper sequence were lost Feb. 3 and engineers had been unable to restore the data paths that handled orientation for analyzing magnetometer results, synchronizing pulses that allowed ground-based computers to decipher telemetry data, and portions of data collected by experiments. Manned Spacecraft Center personnel had been manually analyzing thousands of bits of data to determine extent of problem and to work out alternate procedures for obtaining the missing data. Analysis showed that failure was probably due to break-down of some electronic part. (MSC Release 72-37)
Flight Research Center received F-111 aircraft from Air Force for joint NASA-USAF supercritical flight program. Aircraft, 13th F-111 built, would be flown by FRC project pilot Einar Enevoldson to check out systems before NASA F-111 went off flight status until mid-June for instrumentation. It would then be flown with conventional wing to collect baseline flight data for comparison with future supercritical wing data. (FRC X-Press, 2/18/72, 2; FRC PAO)
Four-stage Javelin sounding rocket, launched by NASA from Wallops Station, carried 59-kg (130-lb) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Goddard Space Flight Center payload to 852-km (529.4-mi) altitude to study upper atmosphere. Onboard instruments measured ion composition and concentration and solar-wind neutral hydrogen atoms during 161/2-min flight. Data would be correlated with ground observations. Rocket and instruments functioned satisfactorily. (WS Release 72-1)
Air Force Systems Command announced award of $142 000 to North American Rockwell Corp. and $53 000 to Sperry Univac Systems Div. for study of man-machine relationships in remotely piloted vehicles (RPV) designed for air-to-ground missions. Study would define advantages and disadvantages of man's presence in RPV concept. (AFSC Release 252.72)
National Science Foundation submitted to President annual report Federal Support to Universities, Colleges, and Selected Nonprofit Institutions, Fiscal Year 1970. Between FY 1969 and FY 1970, Federal funds to universities and colleges declined by $227 million, or nearly 7% to $3.227 million-lowest level since 1966 and first decline in actual dollars in direct Federal support since 1963. NSF attributed much of decline to "recent shift in Government policy away from direct Federal grants for facilities construction to subsidized interest charges on loans from non-Government sources." Of 13 agencies included in study, 6 had allocated 97% of all Federal obligations to universities and colleges in 1970. Health, Education, and Welfare continued as principal source of Federal agency funds-64%. NSF and Dept. of Defense together ac- counted for about 20% of Federal total; fluctuations in funding levels of NSF, DOD, Dept. of Agriculture, NASA, and Atomic Energy Commission were small. (Text)
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