Mar 24 1974
From The Space Library
Manned space spectaculars were gone, at least until the 21st century, Thomas O'Toole said in the Washington Post. The similarities be-tween the air age when men had begun flying and the space age were striking, Aviators had been considered stuntmen until they began to carry the mail. The Apollo flights, with their "vaguely circus air," had struck many people the same way. The space shuttle promised to change all that. The U.S. planned to operate five shuttles, each one carrying more than 27 000 kg of satellites and space machinery into orbit 12 times a year, to "improve the quality of life on earth and to find out if life exists elsewhere in the solar system." By the end of the 1980s the U.S. would have visited eight of the solar system's nine planets; the only exception was Pluto.
While one part of the space agency looked at the other planets, another would be looking down to learn more about the earth's health. The next 20 yrs would see an unprecedented use of earth orbit to observe and communicate with the earth. O'Toole quoted Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, as saying that the earth orbit might become overcrowded. Not that things would bump into each other but "there will not be enough radio frequencies to communicate back to earth." (W Post, 24 March 74, C1)
New U.S. proposals might help lead to a new agreement at the stalemated Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, Leslie H. Gelb said in the Washington Post. Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Secretary of State, arriving in Moscow, would submit to the U.S.S.R. two formulas to establish equivalence be-tween nuclear forces. Formula one would bring overall equality in total numbers of land-based missiles, sea-launched missiles, and long-range bombers. Within the total, each side would determine its own mix of forces. Formula two would develop equality in land-based missile throw weight, a better way to guard against a Soviet first strike on U.S. missiles than to seek control of multiple independently targetable vehicles. No MIRV controls were proposed. Working principles contained no numbers, leaving open the question of whether U.S. missiles were to be increased, Soviet missiles decreased, or both lowered. (W Post, 24 March 74, 3; FonF, 30 March 74)
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