Feb 26 1965
From The Space Library
PEGASUS I satellite, launched by NASA Feb. 16, was functioning normally and recording information to ground stations on the size and frequency of meteoroid "strikes" or impacts on all three sensor panel groups. Scientists at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center said the number of penetrations of the panels was not greatly different from the expected level. PEGASUS I had a wing-like structure 96 ft. long and 14 ft. in width, offering more than 2,300 square ft. of area instrumented to detect collisions with meteoritic particles. The basic information on the penetrating power and frequency of meteoroids was needed for the design of future spacecraft. In addition, data on temperature, power levels, and the intensity of radiation were being received. The latter were also as predicted. (MSFC Release 65-45)
COSMOS LVIII satellite, containing "scientific equipment," was orbited by the U.S.S.R. Initial orbital data: apogee, 659 km. (409 mi,) ; perigee, 581 km. (360 mi.) ; period, 96.8 min.; inclination, 65°. Equipment was said to be functioning normally. (Krasnaya Zvezda, 2/27/65, 1, ATSS-T Trans.)
X-15 No. 1 was flown by pilot John B. McKay (NASA) to 153,600-ft. altitude at a maximum speed of 3,750 mph (mach 5.40). Purpose was to check out landing gear revised recently, give pilot experience at higher altitude, and get apparatus data. (NASA X-15 Proj. Off.; X-15 Flight Log)
Dr. Frank K. Edmonson, chairman of the Astronomy Dept. at the Univ. of Indiana, said RANGER VIII photographs had suggested that the moon might have features in common with the Karst limestone formation in southern Indiana and that a request for aerial photographs of the Karst region had been made. RANGER VIII's pictures showed that the Sea of Tranquillity on the moon was pocked and mottled by innumerable depressions, Surface of the Karst limestone layers was similarly pocked with sink holes. Dr. Gerard Kuiper, chief experimenter for the RANGER VIII project, and Dr. Harold C. Urey of the Univ. of California at La Jolla proposed that these "dimples" were produced by drainage of material through holes in their bottoms. (NYT, 2/26/65, 10)
Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., was sworn in as a consultant to NASA by Administrator James E. Webb. His duties would include taking part in conferences, making speeches in the U.S. and abroad, and checking on projects under way. (NASA Release 65-67)
Joseph Campbell, Comptroller General, reported to Congress that the decision of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to lease rather than buy two electric substations from the Potomac Electric Power Co. had resulted in $174,000 of unnecessary costs thus far. Campbell explained, "We believe that the Center failed to make this determination because of the Administration's failure to provide guidelines to its employees, setting forth pertinent factors necessary for consideration in making decisions whether to lease or purchase property." He added, however, that NASA had agreed with GAO findings and would purchase substations as provided for in contract. The matter was nevertheless reported to Congress because it "further illustrates that significant unnecessary costs can be and are being incurred," when agencies do not make complete lease-versus-purchase studies. ( Wash, Post, 2/28/65)
Use of ComSatCorp's Early Bird communications satellite was subject of a London meeting between U.S. and European participants in the program. A general understanding was reached that once commercial service started, television networks could use the satellite system outside peak transatlantic telephone hours. The peak traffic hours were generally considered from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST. Exceptions could be made if major news stories broke in Europe during this period. (Farnsworth, NYT, 2/27/65, 51)
Report of experiments by the European Organization for Nuclear Research indicated there was no fifth force in nature as had been proposed, independently, by two groups of American physicists to explain some unexpected experimental results. The four forces in nature were gravity, electromagnetism, and weak and strong nuclear forces. (Reuters, NYT, 2/28/65, 69)
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