Mar 11 1966
From The Space Library
Dr. Mac C. Adams, NASA Associate Administrator for Advanced Research and Technology, outlined the highlights of NASA’s 1965 advanced research and technology program before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, citing significant contributions to such national programs as the supersonic transport (SST) and the USAF C-5A transport, and listing major accomplishments: landing studies of reentry lifting bodies, second Fire experiment to measure heat transfer at high reentry velocities, two successful firings of 260-in. solid-propellant rocket motor, series of successful nuclear rocket firings, 2,600-hr. endurance test of an ion engine, and endurance tests of the Snap-8 nuclear engine which “demonstrated altitude specific impulse of over 750 1b.-sec./lb.-almost twice chemical rocket values-and a thrust of over 50,000 pounds. Accumulated running time for the reactor tests was over 4200 seconds. . . .” ‘‘(Testimony; NASA Auth. Hearings, 169-78)’’
Quasars are relatively small objects 10 million to 1 billion yrs. old and 30 million to 300 million light years from earth that have been shot at super speeds out of another galaxy by a titanic explosion, astronomer Dr. Halton C. Arp, Mt. Palomar Observatory, contended in Science. Alp’s theory contradicted prevailing view that quasars could enable man to see the ends of time and space and possibly glimpse the secrets of creation because they were on the rim of the universe10 or more billion light yrs. away-and were almost as old as the universe-8 billion yrs. Astronomers believed that the quasars’ “red shifts” in light-changes toward red end of the light spectrum as objects speed away-were caused by extremely rapid motion away from our own galaxy. Arp suggested that quasars might be very dense and compact, exerting a strong gravitational attraction for their size which could shift wavelengths to produce ‘‘red shifts.” ‘‘(Science, 3/11/66; Weil, Wash. Post, 3/12/66,2; Sullivan, W T , 3/11/66, 28; Ubell, N.Y. Her. Trib., 3/11/66)’’
NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. Mueller, testifying on FY 1967 budget authorization before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, stated that NASA had reached a manpower peak of 300,000 people in the manned spaceflight program: “We have passed our peak in engineering, we are reaching our peak in manufacturing, and we are at our peak in total Manned Space Flight manpower resources. . . . “A striking anomaly of the space program is that we begin to ‘go out of business’ before we fly our first operational vehicle. . . . The program to develop the uprated Saturn I launch vehicle illustrates this situation. The decline in manpower on this program has been underway for several months, but the first flight took place only 2 weeks ago-and the first manned flight is almost a year away. By then, the employment level will be almost half the peak level of 1965.” Reviewing NASA plans for a manned project after Apollo, Dr. Mueller cited five major program alternatives under study. The alternatives “placed emphasis on (1) direct economic benefits to mankind, (2) lunar exploration and science, (3) planetary exploration, (4) maximum effort in all program areas, and (5) a program balanced over the whole spectrum of alternatives, which could be shifted as required to meet national needs. “We have not made a decision upon which of these courses we will embark.” ‘‘(Testimony; NASA Auth. Hearings, 32-3, 148)’’
Performance of Apollo Command Module (CM), launched Feb. 26 from ETB on AS-201 flight, was successful enough to obviate any delay in schedule for a 1969 manned lunar expedition, Dr. Joseph F. Shea, manager of MSC Apollo Spacecraft Office, told Gladwin Hill of the New York Times. The CM, on display at North American Aviation, Inc., in Downey, Calif., remained structurally intact, and the few minor technical problems that had developed during flight were not serious enough to cause any engineering problems in the assembly-line production vehicles for subsequent phases of the testing program, Dr. Shea said. “This was the first major confirmation of design processes and it went quite well.” ‘‘(Hill, NYT, 3/12/66, 8)’’
Prince Philip of U.K. toured MSC for three hours, accompanied by department heads explaining the apparatus used in spaceflight. With assistance of Astronaut James A. McDivitt, the Prince spent 30 minutes in an astronaut training craft, twice steering it into simulated orbital rendezvous with an Agena rocket. “It was all a fascinating experience,” he said later. “When you are inside, everything seems to be out of context.” Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, MSC Director, presented Philip a British flag which had been carried aboard GEMINI VII during its Dec. 4-18 space mission with the intention of presenting it to the Prince during his tour. ‘‘(MSC Roundup, 3/18/66, 8; Waldron, NYT, 3/12/66, 8)’’
France’s report for the Register of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space of her successful Nov. 26,1965, launch of A-1 scientific satellite from Hammaguir Range, marked first such report by nation other than U.S. or U.S.S.R. ‘‘(Text)’’
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