May 6 1969
From The Space Library
Milton Klein, Manager of AEC -NASA Space Nuclear Propulsion Office and Director of Space Nuclear Systems, AEC, testified in NASA authorization hearings before Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences that for second decade "what is clear is that regardless of the specific directions the space program may take, if it is to be a progressive one, nuclear energy will play an increasingly important role. As payloads become larger and energy requirements become greater to move these payloads farther from the earth, the nuclear rocket will become a workhorse propulsion system. As we move farther from the sun or as the power requirements increase for the more sophisticated payloads, electric power generated from radioisotopes or nuclear reactors will similarly become more and more important. (Transcript)
Apollo 9 mission to prove capability of LM to operate in space (March 3-13) was adjudged successful by NASA. Overall performance of launch vehicle, spacecraft, flight crew, ground support and control facilities, and personnel was satisfactory and all primary mission objectives were accomplished. (NASA Proj Off)
At annual meeting of Aerospace Medical Assn. and interview which followed in San Francisco, MSC Director of Medical Research and Operations, Dr. Charles A. Berry, said it was almost certain that at least one Apollo 11 astronaut would develop illness during 21-day quarantine period following return from moon. "We have to face the fact that we've had post-flight illness on every Apollo mission so far. Our problem will be to determine whether any illnesses that show up . . . are due to the stresses of space flight or to some micro-organism picked up on the moon." Among difficulties noted during Apollo Program were loss of exercise capacity for period after return to earth, motion sick- ness in flight, and damage to red blood cells from atmosphere of 100% oxygen. Blood cell damage had been alleviated by addition of nitrogen to spacecraft atmosphere. (Huntsville Times, 5/7/69)
Dr. John S. Foster, Jr." Director of Defense Research and Engineering, discussed aeronautical portion of DOD FY 1970 program before Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences hearing on NASA. appropriations. Upsurge in non aircraft weapon systems development was "reflected in the DOD fiscal year 1970 budget of $1,372 million for aircraft and related equipment R.D.T. & E." an increase of about $387 million" over FY 1969. High-priority programs were USN's F-14A air defense fighter and S-3A carrier-based antisubmarine warfare aircraft; USAF's F-15A air superiority fighter, advanced manned strategic aircraft (AMSA), and AX close-support aircraft; and USA's heavy helicopter (HLH) . Comsat program included Defense Satellite Communications System, Tactical Satellite Communications Program, and Very Low Frequency Propagation Satellite. (Transcript)
American Security Council published The ABM and the Changed Strategic Military Balance, U.S.A. vs. U.S.S.R. Although U.S. GNP ran almost twice that of U.S.S.R." latter was investing two to three times more in strategic military forces annually. Report concluded: "Antiballistic missile defense is not a cure-all for the security of the United States. It is not the ultimate defense system, for technology knows no limits and each decade produces fresh challenges and fresh need for response on the part of free nations. But anti-missile defense is an essential component in the network of military systems designed to give the American people a seamless garment of security in an age of acute danger. . . . We firmly believe that an American ABM system is the soundest insurance for peace and against war that the United States can buy in 1969, for the 1970s. . . . It may well be . . . the single most important step the United States can take toward a real and lasting peace at this moment in history." (Text)
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) released report on Safeguard ABM system prepared at his request by Harvard law professor Abram Chayes and MIT provost Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner and scientists George W. Rathjens and Steven Weinberg. It said that "the Sentinel/Safeguard anti-ballistic missile system should not be deployed at this time., Recommendation was based on conclusions system, was unlikely to perform according to specifications under nuclear attack, was susceptible to penetration, and was not well adapted to perform missions assigned to it. Deployment would probably start "new round in the arms race" and "seriously impede the conclusion of an arms control agreement." (Kelly, W Star, 5/7/69, A8; Chapman, W Post, 5/7/69, Al)
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