Jan 28 1977
From The Space Library
NASA launched from the Eastern Test Range on a Delta vehicle the second in a series of three communications satellites for use by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, into an orbit with 35,797km preliminary apogee, 35 777km perigee, 1436.2min period, and 2.6° orbital inclination. The cylindrical Nato IIIB spacecraft had a covering of solar cells for power generation and was gyrostabilized, providing stability for the antenna system which would counter-rotate to point to the earth at all times. All active communications components were redundant, having an identical backup part on board. After fifth apogee, about 48hr after launch, firing of an apogee motor would put Nato IIIB into a circular synchronous orbit at about 35 900km altitude, where its onboard reaction-control system would take it to a predetermined location. The U.S. Air Force's satellite-control facility would operate these activities on behalf of NATO, which had funded three Phase III comsats built by Ford Aerospace to replace the Nato II satellites in the NATO integrated communications systems. (NASA Release 77-5; Spacewarn SPX-280; Sf Satellite Digest, July-Aug 77, 298)
NASA announced resumption of communication with the four Viking-mission vehicles-two landers and two orbiters-at the end of the "conjunction" period during which contact was degraded and temporarily lost because of the changing position of Mars, behind the sun with relation to the earth since Nov. 1976.
The Viking mission extended into the post-conjunction period would use the functioning spacecraft to obtain seasonal-variation data, do long duration sampling for statistically important experiments, and gather additional information not possible during the primary mission because of time or observational constraints. No known limitations would preclude completion of at least a year of extended mission and probably more, the announcement said, as the orbiters had made minimal use of their consumables during the early mission and had performed a minimal number of battery-recharge cycles. Lander B's location at Mars 44°N would encounter temperatures below the qualification limits in the winter season, but the effect of this was unpredictable because lander tests had not gone beyond qualification limits.
Extended-mission data collection had actually begun last Nov. when controllers had used the spacecraft transponders passively to measure ranging, tracking, signal-time delay, and solar-corona-induced perturbation. The extended mission would continue through May 1978, the announcement said, and data analysis would continue through Sept. 1977; requirements for data analysis beyond FY 1978 were under study. (MOR-S-815-75-01/02)
NASA announced plans to join with the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) in a program to use solar energy for heat and hot water supply at 6 space centers from Va. to Calif. NASA would invest $500 000 and ERDA $1.25 million in up to 10 separate projects that had been scheduled for completion at NASA facilities by the end of the fiscal year, Oct. 1977. The programs could reduce utility bills by up to a quarter million dollars/yr.
Five of the solar projects, all at MSFC, would heat an office building; heat liquid nitrogen to a gas, for experiments and manufacturing at 2 MSFC facilities; supply hot water for the cafeteria and restrooms in a 10-story building; and heat a warehouse used for storing hydraulic equipment. Other projects would supply hot water for cafeterias at Dryden Flight Research Center in Calif. and KSC in Fla.; hot water for photo labs at Ames Research Center in Calif. and LaRC in Va.; and heat and dehumidification for areas containing sensitive computer and other electronic equipment in the mission control center at JSC in Tex. NASA would also provide funds for 5 smaller solar heat projects at ARC, KSC, and MSFC, to be operational by the end of Aug. The program should demonstrate the possibility of offsetting the comparatively high initial cost of solar energy systems through substantial savings on oil, gas, and electrical energy. (NASA Release 77-15; MSFC Release 77-15; ERDA Release 77-18)
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced that its 1977 budget for scientific and general activities had been unanimously approved by the ESA Council meeting in Paris. Individual budgets for projects Aerosat, Ariane, Marots, Meteosat, OTS, and Spacelab had already been approved by their respective program boards. The Council had reduced by 3 million accounting units (MAU) the total 481.8 MAU proposed for all ESA work in 1977, approving the equivalent of $526.68 million in U.S. dollars. (In 1977, one AU was equal to 1.1 U.S. dollars.) (ESA news release, Jan 28/77; ESA newsletter, Jan 77, 1)
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