Nov 30 1964
From The Space Library
NASA and Pan American Airways announced that a scheduled Pan Am flight operating between San Francisco and Honolulu had successfully received error-free teletype messages for one hour from NASA's communications satellite, SYNCOM III, which was in stationary orbit over the mid-Pacific. NASA said that the relay of communications to an aircraft in flight from a station on the ground was another "first" for SYNCOM (NASA Release 64-297)
MARINER IV Mars probe finally locked its sensor on the star Canopus after fixes on three wrong stars. Jet Propulsion Laboratory officials noted that picking up wrong stars was not critical in the early stages of the flight. If the MARINER IV had not dropped these wrong fixes of its own accord, the action could have been commanded from the ground. Only if Canopus were in the sensor's sights would the TV camera be aimed at the Martian surface when MARINER IV flew past the planet 71/2 months from now; only with Canopus in view would scientists know the spacecraft's attitude with the precision needed for a midcourse rocket firing of maximum accuracy to refine the course of the trajectory and bring the MARINER IV within about 8,600 mi. of Mars instead of the presently anticipated distance of 151,000 mi. (Miles, Wash. Post, 11/30/64; Witkin, NYT, 11/30/64, 1; National Observer, 11/30/64; Witkin, NYT, 12/1/64, 1)
NASA launched Aerobee 150 sounding rocket from White Sands, N. Mex., with experiment to obtain optical spectra of night ultraviolet airglow. Rocket attained 113.5-mi. altitude, and the attitude control system kept the two fast spectrographs pointed accurately at the horizon, permitting four-minute exposure of the faint molecular oxygen Herzberg bands. Also included in payload was a Nikon camera to obtain star-field backgrounds for aspect determination. (NASA Rpt. SRL)
Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched in U.S.-Pakistan project from Son-miani reached 124-mi. altitude. Sodium vapor trail ejected during ascent was photographed by ground cameras to measure atmospheric wind directions and speeds. Launch was part of cooperative program between NASA and Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Committee. (NASA Rpt. SRL)
The Soviet Union launched ZOND II probe in the direction of the planet Mars. The purpose of the launching was said to be trying of the station's systems under actual conditions of prolonged space flight and gaining of practical experience. Scientific investigations in interplanetary space would be carried out simultaneously. The probe was proceeding along a trajectory close to the computed one. (Tass, Krasnaya Zvezda, 12/2/64, 1, ATSS-T Trans.; Simons, Wash. Post, 12/2/64; Clymer, Balt. Sun, 12/2/64)
X-15 No. 2 flown by pilot John B. McKay (NASA) to 86,000-ft. altitude at maximum speed of 3,000 mph (mach 4.54) . The flight continued checkout of the revised landing gear system on the No. 2 aircraft and checked modifications made to prevent nose gear from coming down prematurely. Total engine burn time was 76 sec. and tests performed were successful. (NASA X-15 Proj. Off.)
The National Center for Atmospheric Research postponed the launching of a huge balloon equipped to carry a 36-in. telescope 15 mi. into the stratosphere to photograph Jupiter and star clusters. (UPI, NYT, 12/1/64, 2)
Dr. Nancy Roman, Chief of NASA Astronomy programs, told Space Business Daily that her office had a program under consideration for a 50-55-in. telescopic mirror manned orbiting observatory which might orbit in the mid-1970's. Although she emphasized that all plans were in the "thinking stage," Dr. Roman said the 50-55-in. configuration would provide another interim link between the unmanned Orbiting Astronomical Observatory series and the manned 100-in. configuration being considered for launching in 15 to 20 years. "The 50-55-in. interim configuration should be such," she said, "that it could be used either manned or unmanned. But it will have as its principal objective the proving of man's ability as an orbiting astronomer." (SBD, 11/30/64, 132)
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's deadline for industry proposals to design a 100-lb.-thrust rocket engine for manned space systems. Designated "C-1," the engine would be powered by monomethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, which would be hypergolic and storable. The engine could be employed for attitude control, maneuvering, and ullage control purposes. (A&A, 12/64, 75)
Results of five public opinion surveys conducted in 12 cities over 14 months for Thiokol Chemical Corp. and Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. were announced. Findings indicated that most Americans supported the national goal of landing men on the moon by 1970 but they felt no sense of urgency about achieving it. One third of those interviewed thought spending should be reduced. (NYT, 11/15/64, 66)
Gen. Thomas S. Power (USAF) retired as Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) . He was succeeded by Lt. Gen. John D. Ryan, formerly SAC Vice Commander-in-Chief. Ryan would be made a four-star general. (NYT, 12/1/64, 46)
Canaveral District of the Army Corps of Engineers announced award of $19,055,953 firm-fixed-price contract to the George A. Fuller Co., for construction of Pad B of NASA's Saturn V Complex 39 at Merritt Island, Fla. The contract also provided for building a two-mile section of crawlerway for transporting launch and arming towers to the pad. (DOD Release 844-64; M&R, 11/30/64, 22)
November 30-December 3: James T. Ramey, a commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission, analyzed the use of cost-effectiveness techniques in a speech to the Atomic Industrial Forum in San Francisco. He said: "The cost effectiveness technique assumes end-applications or requirements, and then figures out the costs of alternative systems of achieving equal or greater effectiveness it would seem that the requirements system, and the cost effectiveness techniques, tend to favor the status quo in technology, if not in economics or politics. "This leads me to the conclusion that the underlying problem is really whose judgment and recommendations should receive most weight in determining which development programs and projects should go for-ward. Should these decisions be made by the science advisors and co-ordinators, and budget specialists who have no direct programmatic responsibility and are not accountable for failure to carry out the directives of the President and the Congress? Or should the judgment of the developmental agency which has the statutory responsibility for the program and the technical depth and experience receive the most weight? . . . I have a certain affinity for giving considerable weight to the judgment of the development agency, which, in regard to atomic energy, would be the AEC and its laboratories. In regard to nuclear energy in space, it would be AEC and NASA, and to some extent the Air Force. "I am quite optimistic about achieving the great possibilities of atomic energy in space. I firmly believe the atom will provide the means for the propulsion and servicing of manned space ships for moon missions following Apollo, and to and from the planets. (Av. Wk., 1/11/65, 11)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
