Oct 19 1973
From The Space Library
The U.S.S.R. launched Molniya 11-7 communications satellite from Baykonur into orbit with 39 860-km (24 767.9-mi) apogee, 503-km (312.6-mi) perigee, 717.9-min period, and 62.8° inclination. The satellite would help provide a system of long-range telephone and tele-graph radio communications in the U.S.S.R. and would transmit Soviet central TV programs to the Orbita network. (GSFC SSR, 10/31/73; Tass, FBIS-Sov, 10/24/73, Ul; Sov Aero, 1/7/74, 4)
Concorde 001, the French prototype of the Anglo-French supersonic trans-port aircraft, was flown by Aerospatiale test pilot Andre Turcat on its last flight, from Toulouse to Le Bourget Airport near Paris. Turcat had piloted 001's maiden flight March 2, 1969. The aircraft, which had flown 396 flights and 810 hrs (254 hrs at supersonic speeds), would be given to the French Air Museum in Paris. (NYT, 10/21/73, 21)
Election of Howard K. Nason, President of Monsanto Research Corp., as Chairman of NASA'S Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel was announced by NASA. He would succeed L/G Carroll H. Dunn (USA), who was re-tiring after a year of service. (NASA Release 73-213)
Lewis Research Center scientist Stanley G. Young had applied cavitation-erosion of metal by tiny cavities formed by uneven pressure gradients in liquids-to restoring serial numbers obliterated by filing or grind-ing, NASA reported. In the process, of use to police in identifying stolen property, an ultrasonic vibrator generated very-high-frequency vibra-tions in water, creating millions of microscopic bubbles. The bubbles struck the metal surface on which serial numbers had been erased, weakening particles that filled the serial number grooves. Conventional methods of restoring serial numbers used chemicals or mechanical processes that might obliterate remaining traces of the numbers. (NASA Release 73-216)
Johnson Space Center announced it had authorized Rockwell International Corp. to modify a building at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., for final assembly, system installations, and checkout stations for two space shuttle orbiters. The modifications would be made under an exist-ing cost-reimbursement-no-fee contract and would bring total contract value to $6 000 000. (JSC Release 73-137)
NASA launched an Arcas sounding rocket from Antigua, West Indies, carrying a Goddard Space Flight Center meteorology experiment to a 42.7-km (26.5-mi) altitude to measure ozone distribution in the upper atmosphere, monitor anomalous ultraviolet absorption, and extend the data base for a climatology of stratospheric ozone in the tropics. The launch was in conjunction with a Nimbus 4 satellite (launched April 8, 1970) overpass. Because only one of four optical channels transmitted data and the thermistor was reading open, no significant data were received. (NASA Rpt SRL)
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