Jun 11 1974
From The Space Library
A giant nylon parachute was demonstrated at Kennedy Space Center as a possible design for the recovery of the space shuttle solid-fueled rocket booster casings. The parachute-built by Goodyear Aerospace Corp. to provide knowledge of handling heavy parachutes-had a base diameter of 40 m, base canopy circumference of 120 m, and total weight of 940 kg. Plans called for the use of three or four chutes of this kind in addition to a drogue chute to land the shuttle's two 73 000-kg booster casings in the Atlantic, where boosters and parachutes could be retrieved by ships. (Spaceport News, 27 June 74, 5)
Kennedy Space Center awarded two contract extensions. A one-year $13-257 787 cost-plus-award fee extension was awarded to Federal Electric Corp. for support services, including launch instrumentation and communications support, for the Apollo Soyuz Test Project. The new award brought the total contract amount to $144 962 628. Bendix Corp. Launch Support Div. was awarded a $20 640 874, 16-mo extension to continue launch support services at KSC, including operation and maintenance of Launch Complex 39. The extension brought the total contract amount to $261 498 038. (KSC Releases 93-74; 94-74)
11, 12, 13, 18 June: Hearings on H.R. 10392, a bill authorizing NASA to con-duct research on ground propulsion systems, were held by the House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications. Rep. Charles A. Vanik (D-Ohio) said that he was becoming impatient waiting "for an energy efficient' American automobile which can meet our pollution standards." It was "time we truly involved NASA-on a massive scale-in solving our earth-bound problems." Carl E. Nash of the Public Interest Research Group suggested that serious consideration be given the Dept. of Transportation or the Environmental Protection Agency, rather than NASA, when giving authority for ground propulsion research and development, because these agencies had had more experience in the field.
Sydney L. Terry, Vice President for Public Responsibility and Consumer Affairs at Chrysler Corp., said many had questioned whether the Federal Government had a legitimate role in automotive propulsion technology, but Chrysler would "welcome NASA's interest in the automobile with enthusiasm and hope." NASA's skill and experience in long-range basic research and in the fields of thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and aerodynamics could contribute substantially to the development of efficient transportation. The way to proceed was by a "thoughtful division of research and development work between Government and industry." (Transcript)
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