Feb 5 1966
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R. released LUNA IX’s photographs of the moon for first time and criticized distortion of photos publicized by Jodrell Bank Experimental Station. Photos, shown on an eight-minute television program, were analyzed by scientists Vladimir Yurovsky, Yuri Mbelouson, and Ivan Koval. Moon’s surface appeared very uneven with many small depressions and mounds. Surface near the station had not sunk into the soil to any substantial degree. No visible traces of dust were evident. At bottom of first picture, part of spacecraft, including antenna and two-faced mirror which reflected the lunar surface, could be seen. A small stone believed about 6½ ft. from the craft could have been a meteorite or could have fallen from a hill, in which case “we could presume there are some processes of movement on the moon’s surface,” scientists concluded. Tass announced details of LUNA IX’s structure and flight: 3,482.6-lb. spacecraft was an airtight package carrying radio system, program timer, thermal-regulation system, power-supply sources, and television system ensuring 360° view of the landscape. Antennas mounted on outside of craft were set to open automatically after it had settled on lunar surface. Complete with shock-absorbing system and metal screens shaped like petals to protect it during touchdown, 220-lb. instrumented payload detached itself from engine immediately before landing, and two units landed at some distance from each other. Anatoli A. Blagonravov, chairman of the Soviet Commission for Exploration and Use of Outer Space, was critical of Jodrell Bank’s publication of LUNA IX photos and said that Jodrell Bank lacked the correct vertical and horizontal scales: “The horizontal scale of the British photographs had been shrunk by approximately 2.5 times.” Photos released by Moscow, vivid in detail and contrast, showed a landscape less pinnacled and strange than that in British versions. ‘‘(Sullivan, NYT, 2/6/66, 76; Grose, NYT, 2/6/66, 1, 76; AP, Wash. Eve. Star, 2/6/66, A14)’’
U.S. monitors had received photographs transmitted from the moon by LUNA IX, Dr. Edward C. Welsh, NASC Executive Secretary, told the press: “We have obtained some information regarding those Luna 9 pictures from our own sources. Such data are currently under study and evaluation. I believe it is important for the public to know that we do not rely solely on Soviet releases or Jodrell Bank pronouncements for our information. ‘‘(NASC)’’
ComSatCorp requested FCC permission to launch satellite which would relay network television programs from their point of broadcast to affiliated stations for transmission to home sets. Request also asked that similar proposal submitted to FCC by American Broadcasting Co. (ABC) May 13, 1965, be dismissed. ‘‘(Denniston, Wash. Eve. Star, 2/5/66, A5)’’
Mystery of how the universe began could be solved within 15 to 20 yrs. if US. would use the $100 million spent on one manned Gemini mission for five new 200-in. telescopes, MIT professor Dr. Philip Morrison suggested at New York meeting on cosmology. Morrison said three or four telescopes equal to the one at Mt. Palomar could be built for the $60 to $80-million cost of one Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) and would provide more information on the origin and nature of the universe than the satellite. Meeting was sponsored by American Institute of Physics and National Assn. of Science Writers, Inc., with NSF support. ‘‘(NYT, 2/5/66)’’
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