Feb 23 1972
From The Space Library
Two volunteers began pilot investigation at U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in San Francisco to retrace Apollo 15 mission profile and determine cause of astronauts' slower-than- usual return to physiologic norm. Program, conducted for Manned Spacecraft Center, included set periods of vigorous physical exercise, bed rest, and post-test analysis. Bed rest portion was considered analogue of weightlessness. Potassium intake would be closely controlled because NASA doctors postulated Apollo 15 crew had not consumed enough potassium for their workload and adjustment to weightlessness. Program consisted of 9-day equilibration, 7-day control phase, 12-day bed rest, and 14-day recovery period. (MSC Release 72-39; MSC PAO)
Lewis Research Center issued requests for proposals for first phase of three-phase effort to demonstrate that lower aircraft engine emissions could be reached without sacrificing combustion efficiency or combustor's ability to reignite in flight. Firm selected would receive 15-mo contract to conduct screening tests of various combustor designs and modifications. Contractor would consider LeRC-developed "swirl can" design, which provided many fuel-injection points and premixed some fuel and air and could be operated to temperatures twice as hot as standard combustors with significant reductions in pollutants. Second phase of project would test best designs from phase one. Third phase would test best design as part of a complete engine. (NASA Release 72- 38)
Marshall Space Flight Center issued requests for proposals for development of visible laser communications experiment for ATS-G Applications Technology Satellite mission in 1974. Contractor selected would begin designing experiment in July and would build and test experiment and provide ground support through experiment's two-year lifetime. (MSFC Release 72-17)
Senate approved S.R. 261, making minority changes in committee assignments. Sen. James L. Buckley (R-N.Y.) was removed from Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences and Sen. Karl E. Mundt (R-:S.D.) was added. (CR, 2/23/72, S2379-80)
February 23-24: NASA officials continued testimony before House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on Aeronautics and Space Technology during FY 1973 authorization hearings. Associate Administrator for Aeronautics and Space Technology Roy P. Jackson reported "excellent results" in first acoustic tests, completed in November 1971, of experimental quiet engine for con- ventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft. "In an unsuppressed baseline configuration . . . the noise levels were the equivalent of at least 3 EPNdB [epndb, effective perceived noise in decibels] lower than the original targets. In a first cut simulation of an acoustically sup-pressed nacelle which was not an optimum design, the noise levels were from 7 to 9 EPNdB lower yet, with aerodynamic performance losses no greater than expected." It appeared possible to design an advanced version of CTOL engine "which will incorporate all the advances in technology and will have a more nearly optimum trade-off between noise reduction and installed weight penalty." In FY 1973, $2.5 million was requested for program to reduce noise of short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft to 95 epndb at 500 ft (150 m) . Tests at Flight Research Center of quieted T-34 high- bypass ratio engine operating with simulated wing-flap system would develop design data for both quiet, experimental STOL (QUESTOL) aircraft program and quiet, clean, STOL experimental engine program. Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VToL) noise reduction program, with budget request of $2.5 million, focused on lift fans with additional work on helicopter rotor noise. Acoustic and aerodynamic data would continue to be developed in tests at Langley, Ames, and Lewis Research Centers.
George W. Cherry, Deputy Associate Administrator for Programs in Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST), described NASA role in Joint NASA, Federal Aviation Administration, and Dept. of Defense microwave landing system (MLS) development plan to provide landing system for civil and military use to replace current very-high-frequency (VHF) landing system. NASA would provide personnel in FAA MLS Project Office, chairmanship of the MLS Interagency Advisory Group, flight-test validation of the MLS for STOL operations, and extension of our work in FY 1973 to include CTOL and VTOL aircraft. "We are convinced the national microwave landing system program will make significant contributions toward noise abatement, airport congestion relief, and, especially, safety enhancement in the airport area." Gerald G. Kayten, Director of Transport Experimental Program Office in OAST, said on Feb. 23 that NASA programs would "provide a foundation upon which industry can base the design and development of the new STOL systems in the late 1970's, and upon which the Government can establish criteria for certification and regulation of such systems." Programs also would enable Government to make 1976 decision on vertical short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) incorporation recommended in Dept. of Transportation Northeast Corridor Report. "NASA's main focus is on propulsive-lift technology for effective and economical STOL capability, engine technology for development of quiet and clean STOL propulsion systems, and airborne STOL avionics and system technology." Technology represented "totally new capability based on major advances in each of several technical disciplines."
Albert J. Evans, Director of Military Aircraft Programs Office in OAST, on Feb. 24 described support of military aircraft development programs. NASA had assigned research engineers to F-15 and B-1 aircraft and Air Force prototype systems program offices. "This has put NASA `on the scene' as technical problems become recognized and defined, and brings NASA'S technical capabilities to bear on the problems at an early date." F-15 would make first flight early in FY 1973 "with about 12,000 NASA wind tunnel hours behind it, and much technical consultation by NASA staff members with the Air Force and the industry that is developing the F-15." F-15 operational engine would be installed at Lewis Research Center to analyze air flow through engine components, combustion efficiency, and performance characteristics. NASA would analyze F-15 engine and airframe performance and flight- test aircraft at Lexc, where similar tests would be run on Air Force AX aircraft in cooperation with USAF. In B-1 program, four FRC engineers would be assigned to USAF Systems Program Office and contractor to assist in establishing flight-test requirements and instrumentation to verify analytical design techniques and ground- test data obtained at small scale in wind tunnels and information from simulator studies. (Transcript)
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