Jul 21 1975
From The Space Library
The 14-nation Arab League, joined by 6 other African and MidEastern states in a 20-nation satellite organization, had finished initial technical and economic feasibility studies for an Arab satellite communications network and were beginning to define specific technical requirements for the system, Aviation Week and Space Technology reported.
Program goals were to meet telecommunications requirements of Arabic-speaking states in North Africa and the Middle East for police work, weather broadcasting, civil aviation communications, and shipping, and to expand Arab technology into space. The Arab States Broadcasting Union estimated immediate need of 15 radio channels for direct broadcast of educational and cultural programs to remote areas, and 2 TV channels each for general and educational broadcasting. Estimated need of the Arab countries by 1976 would be as many as 1060 telephone, teletypewriter, and telegraph channels, and up to 6200 channels for this traffic by mid-1984.
Av Wk reported that, although the first satellites and initial ground stations would be bought from Western countries, the long-term goal was to shift operation and control to Arab nationals after 6 mo.
The system, which would provide communications and broadcast coverage for 95% of the Arab world, would include a main orbiting satellite, a standby orbiting satellite to replace the prime satellite in case of failure, and a reserve satellite kept on the ground ready for quick launch in case of satellite failure. (Ropelewski, Av Wk, 21 July 75,56-59)
A recommendation by Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, to transfer Skylab backup hardware to the Smithsonian Institution was agreed to by Rep. Olin E. Teague (D-Tex.), Chairman of the House Science and Astronautics Committee. In a letter to Dr. Fletcher, Teague said he understood the transfer would "in no way affect the status of the Saturn launch vehicles and Apollo spacecraft being retained for possible use." Teague said he shared a "belief that to display the Skylab hardware to the public will foster a better appreciation and increasing support for our national space program." Other equipment was being stored to permit restoration if additional space missions should become desirable [see 9 Apr.]. (Letter, Teague to Fletcher, 21 July 75)
Cosmic rays-the most energetic particles in the universe-probably originated in supernovas within our own galaxy, Dr. Floyd W. Stecker, Goddard Space Flight Center scientist, wrote in an article in Physical Review Letters. Dr. Stecker had based his conclusions on data from NASA's Explorer 48 (Small Astronomy Satellite-B, launched 16 Nov. 1972).
Scientists had been speculating on the source of cosmic radiation since its discovery at the turn of the century, when it was thought to be identical with gamma rays. With the advent of radio astronomy and the rapid development of new experimental techniques and instrumentation, supernovas had been considered a possible source of cosmic rays; however, other scientists believed cosmic radiation had extragalactic origins, such as quasars. Explorer 48, measuring cosmic-ray intensity without interference from earth's atmosphere, had been able to obtain the gamma-ray information needed to complement ground-based radio-astronomy data.
The SAS-B scientific team at GSFC had measured a large amount of gamma radiation coming from the Milky Way galaxy, the most intense coming from the center of the galaxy. As gamma rays resulted primarily from collisions of cosmic rays with interstellar gas, and the detailed Explorer 48 data had identified the direction from which most of the gamma rays came, Dr. Stecker could pinpoint an area of intense activity midway between the galactic center and the earth. The active area was a region containing numerous interstellar gas clouds-but not enough to account for all the gamma-ray production-as well as a large number of supernova remnants. Dr. Stecker deduced that cosmic rays were to be found in the same regions as supernova remnants and in proportion to their number. (Stecker, Physical Review Letters, 21 July 75, 188-90; NASA Release 75-221)
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