Oct 29 1970
From The Space Library
NASA and Soviet Academy of Sciences reached agreement in Moscow for joint efforts to design compatible space docking and rendezvous arrangements. Agreement called for exchange of technical materials by' correspondence during November 1970, exchange of technical requirements for systems to ensure compatibility in January and February 1971 for familiarization, and meetings of working groups in March and April 1971 to refine lists of systems to provide compatibility and discuss common requirements. Working group meetings would be held alternately in U.S. and U.S.S.R. After agreements on technical requirements, each side would independently prepare preliminary system designs to be considered by NASA and Soviet Academy. (NASA Release 70-210)
At NASA Hq. press briefing Arnold W. Frutkin, Assistant Administrator for International Affairs, reported on Oct. 26-27 U.S.-U.S.S.R. talks on compatible rendezvous and docking: "We would hope that the next year would show very substantial progress toward the definition of possible compatible systems; the implementation of those systems is another matter which rests entirely on the pace of our respective programs." Space Shuttle would be more plausible craft for compatible docking than Skylab because of timing. (Transcript)
Dr. Donald J. Williams, Director of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Disturbances Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., revealed plans to study space weather by squirting small blobs of electrically charged gas out of earth-orbiting satellite. He told 1970 Meeting of Interagency Conference on Weather Modification at Virginia Beach, Va., NOAA would fly simple experiment on small geophysical monitoring satellite. "When activated 22 300 miles [35 900 km] above the nighttime earth, the device will trigger a self-quenching flow of electrons into the upper atmosphere. Our proposed experiment in modifying space weather requires interacting with our environment in a scientifically significant yet totally non-destructive way." If initial release of plasma from satellite caused artificial aurora scientists would "be able to deduce the exact shape of the magnetic field line that passes through the satellite's position. In addition; the. . experiment should provide information on diffusion of plasma along field lines, diffusion across field lines, and electric fields deep in the magnetosphere," Naturally occurring electron-precipitation events were accompanied by many terrestrial effects, including auroral displays, radiopropagation disturbances, and intense, short-lived fluctuations of earth's magnetic field. If NOAA experiment enhanced precipitation from magnetosphere into ionosphere scientists "would then be more certain of the natural processes that cause storms and should be able to improve our predictions of radar clutter and the quality of polar radio communications in future, naturally occurring storms. Once we know more about the magnetosphere, the triggering mechanism of electron precipitation events and their enhancement into geomagnetic storms; we can then consider ways to modify or control such storms when they occur naturally. Thus, the small NOAA experiment riding piggyback on a geophysical satellite may be our first step toward ultimate control of our space environment." (NOAH Release 70-85-285)
Heart-rate tachometer invented by MSFC engineers James R. Currie and Ralph R. Kissel to monitor astronauts' heart beat in space might have medical application on earth, MSFC said. Device, which could measure heart rates between 40 and 200 beats per minute and furnish almost instantaneous rate after measuring only two heart beats, might be used to monitor heart rates of cardiac patients. (MSFC Release 70-226)
MSC had accepted delivery of three of eight new supersonic Northrop T-38 trainers for astronauts, purchased at $800 000 each, Washington Post reported. Two-engine aircraft would replace 10 Lockheed subsonic, single-engine T-33s in NASA service for past 10 yrs. (O'Toole, W Post, 10/29/70)
Early Birds of Aviation held annual convention in Washington, D.C. Group, organized in 1928, consisted of aviators who flew solo before Dec. 17, 1916-13 yrs after Wright brothers first flight, but be fore U.S. entry into World War I. Convention participants included Georgia (Tiny) Broadwick, 77, who parachuted from aircraft in 1913; Walter Waterman, 76, who made his first solo flight July 1, 1909, in glider he built from plans published in Popular Mechanics; Roy Waite, 86, who made one of world's first aerial bomb runs in 1912, when he dropped 20 bags of flour onto two battleships in Boston Harbor; and William Diehl, 79, who claimed to have carried first regular passengers. (Weil, W Post, 10/30/70, A22)
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