February 1973
From The Space Library
“Journey to Mars”, “THE RED PLANET MARS: Map Supplement” and “The Search for Life on Mars” articles and “The Dusty Face of Mars: Painting Supplement” appear in National Geographic Magazine
Instrument technicians from Flight Research Center removed transducers from the XB-70 experimental aircraft on static display at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, for installation in the YF-12 triple-sonic aircraft shortly to participate in a flight research program. Use of XB-70 transducers in the high-temperature environment to be encountered by new YF-12 aircraft would save Government more than $950 000 in instrument development and production costs. (FRC Release 3-73)
The S.S. Hope, hospital ship of the People-to-People Health Foundation sailed from Baltimore and arrived in Maceio, Brazil, after having been equipped for communicating via satellite. Under an agreement between Communications Satellite Corp. and the Foundation, the ship had been fitted with a small, parabolic antenna and a transmit-receive comsat terminal to assess the use of reliable long-distance communications with medical teams in remote areas. (ComSatCorp brochure)
The National Academy of Sciences released Biological Impact of Increased Intensities of Solar Ultraviolet Radiation. The report by the NAs Environmental Studies Board concluded that routine use of supersonic aircraft would increase risk of skin cancer, harm many food crops, diminish biological productivity of oceans, and adversely affect many useful insects. Emission of nitrogen oxide from SST engine exhaust would lessen ozone content of the upper atmosphere and increase the amount of uv radiation reaching the earth. In addition to increased cancer risk, uv rays could also change deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), genetic messenger of cells, causing harmful mutations in future generations. (NAS-NRC Release, 7/24/73; Schmeck, NYT, 2/12/73, C11)
The National Academy of Sciences released Plans for U.S. Clear-Air Turbulence Research in the Global, Atmospheric Research Program. The report of a panel of the U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) recommended that increased Federal logistic support be provided for clear-air turbulence studies in planning, because of importance to aviation safety and to understanding effects of smallscale motions on large-scale dynamics of atmosphere. The Dept. of Defense should make available additional C-130 and RB57 aircraft for vertical-motion measurements in Project Wamflex (wave-induced momentum flux experiment) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's continuous-wave radar should be modified to detect clear-air turbulence in the tropopause. And NASA should provide additional instrument support including scaning lidar. (Text)
The Federal Aviation Administration and industry Area Navigation Task Force issued the report Application of Area Navigation in the National Airspace System. It recommended a 10-yr program to establish area navigation as the primary method of aircraft navigation in the U.S. The program called for a total overhaul of the airspace route structure above 5000 m (18 000 ft) and redesign of high- and mediumdensity terminal areas. Small airborne computers would enable pilots to fly designed courses by extrapolating signals from ground navigation aids, freeing them from the necessity of flying directly between ground stations and allowing greater flexibility in route selection. (FAA Release 73-45)
A new low-cost high-performance sounding rocket was being developed by Bristol Aerojet Ltd. and Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial of Spain, Spaceflight announced. The two-stage rocket, INTA 300, would lift a 50-kg (110-1b) payload to 320 km (200 mi) with low dispersion. First test flights would be held in 1974. (SF, 2/73, 69-70)
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