Oct 8 1972
From The Space Library
Earth passed within 113 000 km (70 000 mi) of comet Giacobini-Zinner's orbit as U.S. and Canadian scientists on NASA's Convair 990 observatory aircraft Galileo studied comet fragments. Aircraft was flying at 12 000-m (40 000-ft) altitude over Bering Sea. Experiment to use light spectra to identify percentages of sodium, calcium, magnesium, and iron in Giacobini meteors was part of 12- day scientific mission during which Galileo was flown from Alaska as experimental station. Main objectives of flight series were to observe meteor showers, measure polar winds in upper atmosphere, observe barium ion cloud experiment, and measure auroras. Nike-Apache sounding rocket launched by NASA from Kiruna, Sweden, carried Dudley Observatory experiment to 109.4-km (67.9-mi) altitude to collect and identify cosmic dust particles from Giacobini meteor shower. Launch was first in series of three. Rocket and instruments performed satisfactorily and good data were obtained. (ARC Release 72-98; FRC X-Press, 10/27/72, 2; NASA Rpt SRL)
Mariner 9 project scientists were pondering past and future of planet Mars as spacecraft (launched May 30, 1971) began final weeks of Mars probe, New York Times said. Questions of existence of water on Mars, Martian atmosphere, and possible future use of planet as refuge for man when earth became uninhabitable had "no clear answers." Dr. Bruce C. Murray of Cal Tech believed Mars was currently evolving, had never had any vast bodies of water, and might be facing atmospheric dead end." Harold Masursky of U.S. Geological Survey had said presence of river-like channels on Mars indicated existence of liquid water in recent past. Dr. Carl E. Sagan of Cornell Univ. had suggested that periodic changes in Mars' angle of rotation could make Martian climate unstable, alternating between present ice age and warm, earthlike areas that could support "thriving biology." Mars controversy centered on Mariner 9 photos that showed many channels on Mars seemingly carved out by flowing water. (Wilford, NYT, 10/8/72, 68)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced award of $4.8-million contract to Ball Brothers Research Corp. to design, build, and test high- spectralresolution gamma ray spectrometer for NASA's High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO) in 1977. Spectrometer would make exploratory search of universe for gamma-ray-line structures of low and medium energy. Observation of lines could unlock many secrets of supernovae and pinpoint regions where chemical elements-basic building blocks of universe-were synthesized. Spectrometer also would monitor in-tensity, position, time variation, and spectrum of x-rays and gamma rays as emitted from cosmic sources such as pulsars and x-ray stars. (JPL Release 630)
October 8-14: McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Series 40 jet transport aircraft set three point-to-point nonstop records during 48 942-km (30 411-mi) demonstration flight to seven cities in Asia, U.S., and South America. Aircraft flew from Los Angeles to Hong Kong (12 355 'km; 7677 mi) in 14 hrs 44 min, from Honolulu to Buenos Aires (12 553 km; 7800 mi) in 14 hrs 18 min, and from Rio de Janeiro to Los Angeles (10 139 km; 6300 mi) in 11 hrs 52 min. (McDonnell Douglas 1973 calendar; McDonnell Douglas Pio)
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