Sep 14 1976
From The Space Library
Marshall Space Flight Center announced plans for a day-long meeting 16 Sept. at MSFC to review the status of the spinning solid upper stage (SSUS) that would deliver spacecraft from the Space Shuttle in low orbit to their operational synchronous orbits. The SSUS, carrying a satellite of the type now being launched by expendable Atlas-Centaur or Thor-Delta vehicles, would be launched from earth in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle. In orbit, the SSUS with its payload would be extended from the cargo bay on a cradle with a spin table that would stabilize the SSUS as it ejected from the cradle, before its own engine ignited to send it and its payload into the proper orbit. After reaching the required altitude, the payload's propulsion system would position it in the desired orbital attitude. Industry representatives invited to the status review would hear presentations by NASA and Aerospace Corp. on concepts and current mission models for the SSUS. MSFC planned to issue requests for proposals for Phase B (preliminary design definition) about 1 Oct., with contracts being issued in Feb. Plans were to have the SSUS ready for flight in Dec. 1979. (MSFC Release 76-166; Av Wk, 6 Sept 76, 46)
The General Services Administration goofed in agreeing to an exchange of California property with Rockwell Intl. Corp., said Rep. Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), chairman of the House Committee on Government Operations. GSA agreed 3 yr ago to accept a $19.5-million piece of property on the former Rockwell AFB at Canoga Park, Calif., in exchange for a surplus $16-million building. No other agency had been found willing to occupy the Rockwell AFB property, and the corporation had claimed $1.8 million worth of special installations at the former base. Rep. Brooks urged GSA to fight the corporation's attempt to get more out of the trade. (C Trib, 14 Sept 76, 4-7)
The price of solar cells had come down, the Energy Research and Development Administration announced. Cells that would have cost about $210 ($21 a watt).6 mo ago today cost $155 ($15.50 a watt). "This 26% price drop in just 6 mo shows that our research and development program is making significant progress," said Dr. Henry H. Marvin, director of ERDA's division of solar energy. "However, we have a long way to go to meet our 1986 goal of 50c a peak watt." At the goal price, Dr. Marvin said, solar cells could compete with electric power from conventional sources; even at the present high cost, solar cells were competitive for special uses, such as recharging batteries at remote microwave stations operated by railroads and highway departments in southwestern states. Manufacture and sale of solar cells for such uses doubled in the past 18 mo, and the price during that period had dropped almost 50%. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory would manage solar-cell purchase contracts for ERDA, the announcement said, to establish technical feasibility of uses ranging from remote power sources to integration with existing power systems. (ERDA Release 76-290)
Cosmonauts from 8 "socialist member-countries of the Intercosmos program" would join crews from the USSR in space beginning in 1978, the official Soviet news agency Tass announced. Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shatalov, chief of training for the cosmonaut program, said that timing of such flights would depend on the readiness of technology and preparedness of the crews: the crew commander would be a Soviet flyer, and the flight engineer and research engineer would represent another participating country. Crewmembers from Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Cuba, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia would train at the Yuri Gagarin Center near Moscow where Soviet cosmonauts have trained. Intercosmos is an association of Communist nations that had already cooperated in launching 16 unmanned satellites, the New York Times noted; the only men in space so far had been either Soviet or American. (FBIS, Moscow Tass in English, 15 Sept 76; NYT, 15 Sept 76, 72; W Post, 15 Sept 76, A-14)
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