Jan 12 1965
From The Space Library
Kiwi-TNT (Transient Nuclear Test) was successfully completed at Jackass Flats, Nev. This was a safety test to verify predictions of behavior of graphite nuclear reactor during a maximum power excursion. Using data from the test scientists would establish safety standards, particularly for launching nuclear-powered rockets. Nuclear energy released in the test was well within the designated maximum of nuclear test ban treaty of 1963. Preliminary test results indicated: (1) from ½-mi. to 50-mi. downwind from the test site, radiation did not approach accepted danger levels; (2) lethal radiation was confined to 200-to-300-ft. radius of the site, and beyond 500 to-600-ft. radius "a person would probably have survived unhurt unless struck by a piece of debris"; (3) pre-test predictions of the reactor's behavior were accurate; and (4) cleaning up radioactivity at the site was easier than expected. Kiwi ground-test version of a nuclear-reactor rocket engine was a NASA-AEC project. (UPI, Wash. Post, 1/13/65; NYT, 1/13/65; AP, Balt. Sun, 1/13/65; JAMA, 2/8/65, 27-29; Rouer Chron., n.d.)
USN announced the Transit navigational satellite system was operational and had been in use since July 1964. The three gravity-gradient-stabilized satellites, weighing between 110 and 160 lbs. each, were launched on Thor-Able-Star boosters into near-circular 600-mi. polar orbits from Pt. Mugu, Calif. Operational lifetime of the satellites was expected to be about two years. The satellites emitted radio signals which ships used to determine their positions, and could provide ships with navigational fixes-accurate to 0.1 mi.-about every 90 min. The shipboard computer operated automatically, beginning when the satellite approached, receiving the data, computing the ship's position, and typing the results for the navigator. A number of fleet units were reported to be using the system. Capt. F. H. Price, Jr. (USN), who tested the system from the nuclear-powered cruiser U.S.S. Long Beach, called the system "the most reliable means of providing navigational information" and said it met the requirement of an "accurate, dependable, worldwide, all-weather, 24-hour-a-day capability." This was the first continuous use of space technology in direct support of the fleet. It was predicted, but not officially confirmed, that the Polaris missile-firing submarines would adopt the navigational satellite system. NASA was studying commercial applications of a navigational satellite system and considering the possibility of developing its own system if it proved economically feasible. (DOD Release 16-65; AP, Chic. Trib., 1/13/65; Watson, Balt. Sun, 1/13/65; M&R, 1/18/65, 14)
S. Walter Hixon, Jr., Supervisory Employee Development Officer at the NASA Langley Research Center, was selected for his educational activities as the Federal Civil Service Employee of the Year in the Hampton Roads area. Hixon had conducted four major programs at Langley including graduate study, advanced in-house training, a cooperative college education plan, and an apprenticeship training system. (LaRC Release)
France's newest satellite tracking station, located outside Pretoria, South Africa, was nearing completion and would probably be operational by July 1965. The $840,000 station would be used to track France's first satellite, scheduled to be orbited around the earth in 1965. (AP, Balt. Sun, 1/13/65)
The first 95-passenger DC-9 jet liner rolled off the Douglas Aircraft Co. assembly line. A short-haul, twin-engine jet, the DC-9 would be able to land on most conventional airstrips and would, therefore, serve 98 per cent of the Nation's civil airports. 58 planes had been ordered and options were taken on 60 more, but development costs would not be met until the 200 mark was reached. Flight tests would begin in March 1965 or sooner, and airlines operating the new jet expected to start passenger service early in 1966. (UPI, NYT, 1/12/65, 72)
DOD announced Peter Kiewit Sons Company had received a $9,495,000 contract for modification of Titan II launch facilities in the vicinity of Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.; Little Rock AFB, Ark.; McConnell AFB, Kan.; and at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The Army Corps of Engineers awarded the contract. (DOD Release 18-65)
A Canadian company, Jarry Hydraulics, Ltd., designed and built the variable-wing sweep device for the USAF's F-111 fighter bomber. The actuator, consisting of a unit in the fuselage which controlled two booms, could withstand more than 500,000 lbs. tension and could set the wings within .015 of an inch of the position selected by the pilot, at a rate of 200° per minute. (Toronto Globe and Mail, 1/12/65)
DOD would be using 1,274 computers by the end of FY 1965, compared to the 815 computers which were in use when Robert S. McNamara first became Secretary of Defense. NASA would be using 224 computers in various branches of its operations. (Fay, Wash. Eve. Star, 1/12/65)
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