Feb 19 1977
From The Space Library
Global communications systems used by the Dept. of Defense were inadequate, inefficient, and incapable of surviving nuclear attack, according to the investigation subcommittee of the House Committee on Armed Services.
A United Press report carried in the W Star quoted subcommittee criticism of the Pentagon's top-secret command post which, "while located in the basement of the Pentagon, [showed] little possibility that the National Military Command Center would survive a nuclear attack directed against it." The report cited "dismay over the department's inability to deploy a satellite communications system after 16 years of effort," "security deficiencies" in the computer software of the worldwide Military Command and Control System, weaknesses in the Tri-Service Tactical Communications program, and "urgent need for early deployment of improved voice security equipment throughout the military services." The report commended the use of airborne command posts such as the converted Boeing 747 "doomsday plane" that had taken President Carter to Georgia the previous wk. (W Star, Feb 19/77, A-3)
Canadian scientists recovered a fragment weighing about 2kg from a meteorite seen streaking across the sky over Alberta earlier in Feb., the Associated Press reported. Ian Halliday of the Natl. Research Council noted that the find was only the third time a meteorite had been located after it had been photographed coming down; most meteorites reportedly had burned up or exploded before reaching earth. The AP report noted that four fragments of a meteorite that exploded Jan. 31 over Louisville, Ky., had been recovered, and that all four had struck manmade objects (two rooftops, a house window, and an automobile hood), reportedly a rare occurrence. ('W Post, Feb 20/77, A19)
The Univ. of Toyko's Inst. of Space and Aeronautical Science launched a 13kg experimental satellite called Tansei 3 from the Uchinoura space center into an orbit with 3940km apogee, 826km perigee, using a 3-stage MU-3H rocket developed at the university. The rocket, used in preparation for next yr's launch of Japan's 5th aurora observation satellite, was 23.8m long and weighed 49 tons. The MST-3 satellite, 7th launched by the university and 9th by Japan, carried control equipment for testing and would sent back scientific data for an estimated 15 days. (FBIS, Tokyo Kyodo in English, Feb 10/77)
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