Oct 27 1966
From The Space Library
NASA launched ComSatCorp's INTELSAT II-A comsat from ETR by three-stage Thrust-Augmented Improved Delta booster into elliptical transfer orbit in preparation for geostationary orbit. Transfer orbit parameters: apogee, 23,382 mi. (37,646 km.); perigee, 186 mi. (299.9 km.); period, 11 hr. 9 min.; inclination, 26.4ø. At ninth apogee-on Oct. 30-ComSatCorp fired the apogee motor. Apparently the apogee motor nozzle was blown off shortly after the motor ignited, and INTELSAT II-A entered orbit with 23,330-mi. (37,545-km.) apogee; 2,072-mi. (3,334km.) perigee; 12 hr. 16 min. period; and 17ø inclination rather than planned 22,300-mi.-altitude synchronous orbit over Pacific. ComSatCorp announced that 192-lb. satellite, nicknamed "LANI BIRD," could receive and transmit television and other forms of communications, but that "significance of this potential remains to be assessed." First satellite in ComSatCorp's two-satellite INTELSAT II system to provide transatlantic and transpacific comsat coverage, INTELSAT II-A had been scheduled to extend commercial service to the Pacific; assist in fulfilling Project Apollo communications requirements; and provide capability for live transpacific TV by handling TV, data transmission, or up to 240 voice channels between "first class" ground stations. Intelsat II-B was planned for launch in early 1967. INTELSAT I ("EARLY BIRD") had been orbited April 6, 1965. (ComSatCorp Releases; NASA Proj. Off.)
No photographic signals had been detected by Western monitors from U.S.S.R.'s LUNA XII, which had apparently entered lunar orbit Oct. 25. It was speculated that spacecraft had been shut down temporarily to conserve battery power. U.S.S.R. had made no official statement since Oct. 22 launch. (UPI, NYT, 10/28/66, 21)
ComSatCorp asked FCC for authority to construct a $6,500,000 high capacity earth station in Peach Tree Valley, Calif., to communicate with, and perform tracking, telemetry, and command duties for, orbiting satellites. ComSatCorp would withdraw Oct. 6 application for a second antenna at Andover, Me., station pending FCC action on California application. (ComSatCorp Release)
NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr., accepting the New York Board of Trade's 20th annual Business Speaks Award on behalf of NASA, noted "the most important lesson" learned in management of the space effort: ". . . when pressing forward and coordinating the efforts of a large group of teams and individuals . . . it is of paramount importance to provide objectives for each and to assure that these objectives are tailored to the mind and capability of the group attacking them. If the task is ever going to be accomplished, it must seem achievable . . . to the man undertaking it. And . . . each segment of the overall task must be accurately tracked and timed to be properly completed and fitted into the appropriate sequence even as the work goes on.' (Text)
Communist China exploded on target over its own territory a nuclear weapon carried by a guided missile. Test was fourth in series of nuclear explosions: first, Oct. 16, 1964; second, May 14, 1965; third, May 9, 1966. (NYT, 10/28/66, 1, 18)
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