Jun 18 1962
From The Space Library
NASA selected Hughes Aircraft Co. for negotiating a $2.5 million, 6-month study contract on advanced Syncom satellite. The contract covered satellite subsystems which would require long lead time developmental and feasibility work. Second-generation Syncom would be 500-lb., spin-stabilized satellite capable of relaying hundreds of telephone calls or several TV channels. (First-generation Syncom, for which Hughes is prime contractor, is limited to single telephone channel relay.) Syncom project is under technical direction of GSFC.
USAF announced the launching of an unidentified satellite with a Thor-Agena D booster from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
NASA’s OSO I, launched March 7, 1962, had provided 60,000 minutes of data on its solar-pointed experiments prior to failure of its real-time telemetry on May 22, 1902. On May 15 the tape-recorded playback system had malfunctioned. Data received from OSO I included information on more than 75 solar flares and subflares.
In extended action on the floor of the Senate, Senators Russell B. Long, Albert Gore, Estes Kefauver, and Wayne Morse opposed the passage of the Administration's amended communications satellite system bill (S. 2814) previously brought out of the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences. Senator Long charged that the Senate had been subjected to lobbying "the like of which the Congress had never seen before" on the private ownership of the proposed communications Satellite system, and he was questioned by Senator John O. Pastore, the bill's floor manager.
In an address before the American Management Association Forum in New York, Maj. Gen. Robert J. Friedman, AFSC Comptroller, spoke on "Management of the Decision-Making Process." He pointed out that the Air Force Systems Command was an organization of 60,000 employees with an annual budget of seven billion dollars to administer. AFSC has, he said, over 33,000 active contracts involving companies of all sizes and in all states.
Gen. Friedman discussed the "boundaries" within which AFSC must manage its decision-making processes: (1) actions of the military competitors of the U.S.; (2) the constraints of limited funds; (3) the number of alternative courses available in the solution of technical, strategic, and tactical military problems; (4) limitations of time; and (5) the availability of information and competence at various organizational levels within one jurisdiction.
Aerobee sounding rocket launched to 140-mi. altitude at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), N.M., by USAF Cambridge Research Laboratories, with objective of studying x-radiation from the moon. X-rays expected from the moon were blanketed by much stronger source in general vicinity of constellation Scorpius. Analysis of data from sensors indicated the radiation is in form of soft x-rays that do not penetrate earth's atmosphere below 50-mi. altitude. Data also seem to indicate the sensors may have detected a second x-ray source on the galactic rim. AFCRL planned a second rocket flight for October to verify results of this experiment.
Aerospace Research Pilot School began a seven-mouth course to train seven Air Force and one Navy officers for future space missions and projects. This was the second space-training course given at Edwards AFB, Calif., but the first for potential "operational" personnel.
At Seventh Military-Industry Missile and Space Reliability Symposium at San Diego, Gen. Bernard A. Schriever (USAF) stated that it had become clear that "performance has outstripped reliability in a number of areas" and that this "imbalance" needed correction since "overall systems effectiveness implies considerably more than performance." He pointed out that AFSC had attacked this problem by setting up reliability offices in AFSC headquarters, in each of the four development divisions, and in the three contract management regions. Representatives from each of the offices serve on the Reliability Task Force to achieve AFSC-wide focus and action. The publication of Military Specification (MIL-R-27542) on "Reliability Requirements for Aerospace Systems, Sub-systems, and Equipments" replaced previous documents and as a standard section in all new systems contracts ensures the "greatest possible understanding between the Air Force and industry with regard to specific reliability requirements." Gen. Schriever pointed out that quantitative reliability figures were being included in system inception documents (SOR's and OSR’s). Over the long term, research and training of personnel include reliability considerations.
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