May 21 1975
From The Space Library
NASA's Airborne Infrared Observatory, a four-engine C-141 jet transport equipped with a 91.5-cm infrared telescope, was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Gerard P. Kuiper, the founder and former director of the Univ. of Ariz. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. The Kuiper observatory, based at Ames Research Center, would fly at altitudes up to 13 500 m with the telescope operating through a cavity in the aircraft's fuselage.
Dr. Kuiper, who had died in 1973, had been one of the foremost authorities on lunar science. He had played an active role in NASA's Ranger and Surveyor programs and, as head of the Ranger scientific team, had directed the photographic analysis to select landing sites for the Apollo astronauts. He also had participated in the Mariner 10 mission, launched 3 Nov. 1973 to Venus and Mercury, and the Pioneer 10 mission, launched 2 March 1972 toward a December 1973 encounter with Jupiter. (NASA Release 75-149; A&A 73, 350)
NASA announced the appointment of Robert E. Smylie as Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics and Space Technology, effective immediately, and the return of J. Lloyd Jones, Jr., to Ames Research Center as Chief of the Planning and Analysis Office.
Smylie had been Deputy Associate Administrator (Space), OAST, since July 1974. From October 1973 to July 1974 he had been Deputy Associate Administrator for Technology after serving as chief of the Crew Systems Div. at Johnson Space Center.
Jones had come to Hq. in 1972 as director of the Aerodynamics and Vehicles Systems Div. in the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, a position he held until appointed Deputy Associate Administrator (Aeronautics), OAST, in July 1974. (NASA anno, 21 May 75)
The Energy Research and Development Administration had awarded a 45-mo $17 736 000 contract to General Electric Co. Space Div. to provide nuclear generators for NASA's two Mariner-Jupiter-Saturn missions scheduled for launch in late 1977. GE would build seven radio isotopic thermoelectric generators for use during the mission; three of the nuclear generators -each providing 150 watts-would be used for each spacecraft, and the seventh would serve as a spare. (ERDA Release 75- 79)
Marshall Space Flight Center had issued a request for proposals for a study of alternative means for generating electrical power in space and relaying the power to earth, with emphasis on problem areas and new technology, the Marshall Star reported. Previous studies had defined concepts for the use of large solar-cell panels to generate power in geosynchronous orbit and transmit it to earth via microwaves; also studied had been the transmission via an orbital microwave system of power generated at a remote location on earth and transmitted long distances to the user location. (Marshall Star; 21 May 75, 1)
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