Mar 29 1973
From The Space Library
USNS Vanguard, 181-m (595-ft) NASA tracking ship, left Port Canaveral, Fla., for Mar Del Plata, Argentina, to support Skylab missions scheduled to begin in May. Vanguard would be a link in NASA's worldwide tracking network relaying two-way information between a spacecraft and mission control at Johnson Space Center in Houston via Goddard Space Flight Center. En route Vanguard would record tracking data for the Pioneer G launch scheduled for April 5. (GFSC Release; Skylab prog off)
Four seven-year subcontracts totaling $140 million for the design and fabrication of major structural components for the space shuttle orbiter were awarded by Rockwell International Corp. Fairchild Hiller Corp. received a $13-million contract for the design and fabrication of the vertical tail. Grumman Aerospace Corp. received a $40-million contract to design and build the double delta orbiter wing. Convair Aerospace Div. of General Dynamics Corp. was awarded a $40-million contract to build the mid-fuselage that formed the payload bay section. McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. received a $50-million contract to design and build the orbital maneuvering system that would aid in orbital circularization and change and in rendezvous and deorbit maneuvers. (RI Release SP-17)
President Nixon, in a nationwide TV and radio address, said: "Our defense budget today takes the lowest percentage of our gross national product that it has in 20 years." But the U.S. "must never forget that we would not have made the progress toward lasting peace that we have made in this past year unless we had had the military strength that commanded respect. This year we have begun new negotiations with the Soviet Union for further limitations on nuclear arms. . , If prior to these negotiations we . . . unilaterally reduce our defense budget, or reduce our forces in Europe, any chance for successful negotiations for mutual reduction of forces or limitation of arms will be destroyed.” (PD, 4/2/73, 311-15)
NASA-developed spacecraft sterilization technology was being used by the Bird Co. to produce a breathing machine that could be sterilized entirely by dry heat to prevent transfer of infectious organisms, Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced. A JPL team had worked with industry to produce a sterilizable ventilator to aid surgical patients and sufferers from respiratory diseases. Ventilator prototypes would be field-tested in at least one Los Angeles area hospital. (JPL Release 654)
All outstanding options on the Concorde supersonic transport had been dropped, The Washington Post reported. British Aircraft CorpAerospatiale combined British-French manufacturers, would take only direct orders. The action had followed the cancellation of 20 options by U.S. commercial airline companies and would end marketing "brinkmanship.” (Egan, W Post, 3/29/73, C11)
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