Sep 26 1969
From The Space Library
Glazing discovered on lunar surface by Apollo 11 astronauts was analyzed in Science by Thomas Gold of Cornell Univ." senior investigator for close-up photography. Glossy surfaces similar to glass found clumped in centers of small lunar craters appeared to have been swept in after craters had been formed. Glazed areas were also concentrated toward tops of protuberances and, in some cases, droplets appeared to have run down inclined surface and congealed on sides. Glazing might have originated from effect of exhaust of LM descent stage, splashing of liquid drops from larger impact elsewhere, shock heating or volcanism on moon, same impact that created craters in which glazing was found, or intense radiation heating. Intense radiation was most probable cause, Gold said. Source could have been impact fireball on moon, impact fireball on earth, or most likely, solar outburst in geologically recent times. (Science, 9/26/69, 1345-9)
In address at Clarkson College of Technology in Potsdam, N X., Dr. Thomas O. Paine, NASA Administrator, said: "We know that hydrogen bombs work (unfortunately)-the Lord made the Universe that way. And, of course, we know that (fortunately) fusion energy keeps the sun shining every day. Our great visionary dream is to find out how to unlock this energy for spaceship propulsion. This is a great challenge but consider the new tools that we have available: giant magnetic fields with superconducting magnets, tremendous power densities from lasers, the great energy of nuclear power, and new high temperature materials. These, with new plasma dynamic developments, may usher in fusion power in the eighties, the nineties, or in the next century. Harnessing fusion power for propulsion is an even farther-out challenge, but it could prove to be one of the more direct applications. We won't have to convert the fusion energy to electricity; just fuse a couple of deuterium atoms and then let them blast out the back of the vehicle! "So fusion remains a tantalizing promise for the future. . . . If we ever do achieve such propulsion, we'll be able to move with some ease out from our little 8,000-mile-diameter Solar System. All of the 9 planets, 32 moons and 1600 known asteroids will come within reach of our vehicles. And, indeed, if we could achieve high efficiencies in a fusion propulsion process, we could talk of eventual relativistic velocities, of time compression, and of travel to the nearest stars." (Text)
Venus, "least understood of the inner planets," should be U.S. space program priority target, Kitt Peak National Observatory physicist Dr. Donald M. Hunten and Harvard Univ. physicist Dr. Richard M. Goody said in Science. Some fundamental data were available; quantitative theories had been stated; questions about atmosphere could be answered by feasible missions; and geophysicists, interest had been aroused and offered specialized knowledge needed to understand complex processes. But NASA had no present plans for investigation of Venus, lower atmosphere. Uncertainty as to Soviet intentions had been cited as reason for giving Venus low priority. But until collaboration with U.S.S.R. and other European countries could begin, "we have no choice but to base our judgment upon our own scientific and technical abilities and desires." (Science, 9/26/69, 1317-23)
Wall Street Journal editorial: "While there will be debate on the Administration's approval of a go-ahead on the supersonic transport, the President plainly picked the proper method for financing further development of the controversial plane. Earlier there had been talk of setting up a special SST authority that would raise money by selling Government-guaranteed bonds to the public. The idea never had much to recommend it. At the moment the SST faces an uncertain economic future. . . . If the plane is a flop, the Government would be stuck one way or the other. . . . the bond plan would ease the current pressure on the Federal budget. But it also would fool at least part of the public about the financial risk that the Government actually is assuming. . . . Whether one especially relishes the notion or not, supersonic travel is sure to come sooner or later. In heading toward that development, the Administration is wise to avoid financial subterfuge." (WSJ, 9/26/69)
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