Jan 28 1972
From The Space Library
Preliminary description of Apollo 15 lunar samples was presented by Apollo 15 Preliminary Examination Team in Science. More than 350 individual samples weighing total of 77 kg (170 lbs) had been collected from 10 areas in Hadley region during July 26- Aug. 7, 1971, mission. Samples were mare basalts and breccias with variety of premare igneous rocks. "The bulk chemical compositions and textures of these rocks confirm the previous conclusions that the lunar maria consist of a series of extrusive volcanic rocks that are rich in iron and poor in sodium. The breccias contain abundant clasts of anorthositic fragments along with clasts of basaltic rocks much richer in plagioclase than the mare basalts. These two rock types also occur as common components in soil samples from this site. The rocks and soils from both the front and mare region exhibit a variety of shock characteristics that can best be ascribed to ray material from the craters Aristillus or Autolycus." (Science, 1/23/72, 363-74)
Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, in letter to New York Times, criticized interpretation of shuttle economics in Jan. 25 Times article: "NASA has a good record on cost estimating, as demonstrated by bringing in the Apollo program below the original estimates. Even if a contingency amount of $1 billion should be required to overcome unforeseen problems beyond those provided in the $5.5 billion estimates, the combined total for development and initial investment will be substantially below the $10 billion to $14 billion estimate in the Times." (NYT, 2/7/72)
LeRoy E. Day, NASA Space Shuttle Program Deputy Director, described studies of shuttle's effect on payload development costs during speech before American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics Rocky Mountain Section in Boulder, Colo.: "A number of . . . payloads have been flown and historical design and program cost data were available. We have determined by actual preliminary design, preparation of program plans, and detailed costing analyses, that these pay-loads could have been redesigned to fly on the shuttle with payload development cost savings ... of 50% of the historical baseline. The studies conclude that the cost of developing payloads (the major portion of space program costs) can be reduced primarily as a result of the shuttle's ability to retrieve payloads for reuse, refurbishment and updating." Dichotomy of unmanned and manned space programs should not be perpetuated, Day said. U.S. needed to continue "vigorous and meaningful manned space program" that did not "obscure the auto-mated satellite programs." Shuttle was "the one mechanism that can effectively support both goals in an optimum way" within national space budget. (Text)
President Nixon's "enthusiastic support" of space shuttle had "pumped fresh breath of life" into NASA, "buoyed the spirits of a flagging aerospace industry and lost no friends in politically vital West Coast and southern states," Robert Gillette said in Science article. Shuttle endorsed by President was "considerably less ambitious, and at least a billion dollars cheaper, than the shuttle NASA has fought for" but "in basic outline it remains unchanged...." Shuttle "and its presidential stamp of approval stand as a tribute to NASA's deft and persistent salesmanship, a talent marked by careful acquiescence to political and economic realities and by a willingness to bleed other programs, including Apollo, to keep the shuttle alive." While "some budget bureau officials are said to be unhappy with the magnitude, the design, and the pace of the shuttle project as it now stands," prospects for "scuttling the shuttle are slim. " Shuttle possessed few of SST's intrinsic weaknesses. Central moral issue raised by the SST was "the propriety of government subsidy for an essentially commercial enterprise." Shuttle "has no such commercial overtones, and, by any measure, it is a more truly national enterprise." Congressional attack on supersonic transport program, while largely based on project's economics, had drawn strength from "vast and vocal public constituency aroused by alarms . , of environmental damage." No such catalytic issue seemed likely to arise in shuttle debate. Gillette quoted unidentified Senate aide as saying, "Unless we can pull together the kind of public campaign that brought down the SST, the shuttle is going to get by this year without a thorough examination and without an adversary hearing in Congress." (Science, 1/28/72, 392-6) [[ Nike-Apache]] sounding rocket was launched by NASA from White Sands Missile Range carrying Univ. of Minnesota experiment to measure composition of neutral atmosphere between 95 and 125 km (59 and 78 mi). Structural failure of undetermined origin caused vehicle to break up three seconds after launch. (NASA Rpt sRL)
Creative science in U.S. was in transition state, Dr. William D. McElroy, National Science Foundation Director, said in Science editorial. "And much of the feedback associated with this fermentation is focused on NSF, which in this country is often equated with creative science and scientists." Historically, NSF had devoted large portion of its resources to "pursuit of disciplinary science- research and science education motivated solely by the intrinsic needs of a discipline or the creative needs of individual scientists. This kind of programming has been highly successful and must continue, for it is the bedrock of all scientific enterprise. However, there must also be a heightened awareness of the requirements placed on all science, and for this reason, a significant share of the total resources available to NSF in the future must be devoted to the social and technological needs of the nation. This, however, does not mean that the Foundation should be diverted from its earlier and historical purpose; in fact, this diversification should be construed as a means of strengthening that purpose." (Science, 1/28/72, 361)
Manned Spacecraft Center announced issuance of two requests for proposals for space shuttle heating contracts. One request was for design study of ablative materials with low density to protect space shuttle orbiter and one was for design and construction of heating unit to produce high temperatures for testing materials used externally on shuttle. (MSC Releases 72-24, 72-25)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
