Jun 24 1975
From The Space Library
The House of Representatives, by a vote of 391 to 25, passed H.R. 8070, the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill for FY 1976 and the transitional period from 1 July 1976 through 30 Sept. 1976. The bill-appropriating for NASA $3.489 billion for FY 1976 and $925.0 million for the transition period-was passed as reported out by the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations on 19 June. (CR, 24 June 75, H6003-12)
24 June: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project crew members Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, and Donald K. Slayton began a 3-wk preflight medical isolation at 12 pin CDT. Called the flight health stabilization plan, the isolation limited the astronauts to specific working and training areas at Johnson Space Center. In off hours they were being housed in special mobile homes. Only previously screened personnel, wearing surgical face masks, could come into face-to-face contact with the astronauts. (JSC Release 75-59: Ezell et al., The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, 313)
Rockwell International Corp. Rocketdyne Div. successfully test-fired the main chamber of the Space Shuttle main engine for the first time, at NASA's National Space Technology Laboratories. Initial evaluation of ignition-test data indicated that all test objectives were achieved. During a second firing the engine's high-pressure fuel pump reached a maximum speed of almost 7000 rpm, 19% of full power. The test was seventh in a planned series of 10 to 15 short-duration ignition tests that began 11 June and would culminate in the operation of the engine at 20% of maximum thrust level of 2 090 664 newtons (470 000 lbs). Subsequent tests would attempt higher main stage thrust levels to evaluate engine-starting characteristics and performance.
The Space Shuttle main engine, the most advanced liquid-fueled rocket engine ever built, was the first to use an electronic digital computer for automatic control. Three of these engines, designed for reuse up to 55 times, would power the Space Shuttle Orbiter. (Marshall Star, 2 July 75, 1; Rocketdyne Release RD-15; MSFC Release 75-115)
The Air Force System Command's Arnold Engineering Development Center was developing a technique to study, under flight conditions, the physical behavior of the spray-on insulating material proposed for the Space Shuttle, AFSC announced. Using procedures similar to those used in analyzing aerial photographs, a series of reference lines was projected onto the original surface and photographed before wind-tunnel testing. The same pattern was then projected onto the surface during the testing. The shift in the apparent position of the projected lines as the surface eroded from the position shown on the original photograph allowed analysis of the behavior of the materials. (AFSC Release OIP 157.75)
24-25 June: At its first meeting, the council of the European Space Agency (ESA) elected Wolfgang Finke (West Germany) as chairman for 1 yr. General Luis de Azcarraga (Spain) and Jan Stiernstedt (Sweden) were elected vice chairmen. (ESA Release, 27 June 75)
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