Sep 9 1965
From The Space Library
Two-stage Nike-Apache launched from NASA Wallops Station carried 55-lb. payload to peak altitude of 106 mi. (170.9 km,) and impacted 82 mi, downrange in the Atlantic, Conducted by GSFC, the flight measured antenna impedance characteristics in the ionosphere. (Wallops Release 65-56)
U.S.S.R. launched COSMOS LXXXV containing scientific equipment for investigation of outer space, Orbital parameters: apogee, 319 km. (198.1 mi,) ; perigee, 212 km. (131.6 mi.) ; period, 89.6 min.; inclination, 65°. All onboard equipment was functioning normally. (Tass, Krasnaya Zvezda, 9/10/65, 1, ATSS-T Trans,)
GEMINI V Astronauts Leroy Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad, Jr, together with Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, Director, NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr, NASA Associate Administrator, and Paul P. Haney, MSC Public Affairs Officer, held a news conference at MSC, Both astronauts recommended that in future flights both pilots sleep at the same time; more rehydratable foods be included in the diet; daily inflight exercises to compensate for muscular inactivity of the legs be included; the crew travel without spacesuits for greater comfort and flexibility; and that the training period be less compressed. Cooper and Conrad agreed that stowage had been the main problem throughout the flight. "Any small little item that was misplaced or wasn't placed in the proper location seemed to multiply," Cooper said. They had seen "a great many micrometeorites, and one meteorite when it was reentering the atmosphere down below us. And on any night side, during a very short interval of time, you could see micrometeorites reentering," Dr. Gilruth said he considered both astronauts "very potential candidates" for the first trip to the moon. (Transcript)
NASA would contract a total of about $50 million with Convair Div, of General Dynamics Corp. and Honeywell, Inc., for five Centaur stages and guidance systems for use in Surveyor lunar-landing missions, Convair would manufacture, test, erect, and launch Atlas-Centaur boosters; Honeywell was developing the all-inertial guidance system under separate contract with LRC. (NASA Release 65-286)
Pilot Robert A. Rushworth (L/Col. USAF) flew X-15 No. 1 to maximum altitude of 97,200 ft, at maximum speed of 3,545 mph (mach 5.22) to obtain data on the infrared scanner program and information on ablative coatings under consideration for use on future mach-8 flights. (NASA X-15 Proj. Off.; X-15 Flight Log)
Nine of the ten aquanauts in USN Sealab II had developed ear infections, but the ailments would not curtail the aquanauts' activities, a spokesman said. Physicians attributed the infections to microorganisms in the sea. (Wash, Post, 9/9/65, A4)
House Rules Committee deferred bill to study conversion to the metric system, proposed by Rep. George P. Miller (D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics. (AP, NYT, 9/10/65, 41)
Rep. Joseph Karth (D-Minn,) told the House that the flight of GEMINI V had successfully tested not only the high qualities of Astronauts Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., and Charles Conrad, but the reliability and suitability of many items involved in America's space program, including food. He inserted into the Congressional Record: "The Pillsbury items scheduled by NASA for the Cooper-Conrad mission-each ready to eat and requiring no reconstitution-were brownies, gingerbread, pineapple fruitcake, date fruitcake, apricot cereal bars, strawberry cereal bars, toasted bread cubes and cinnamon toast. "Cooper and Conrad were programed to eat 4 meals each day, providing a daily average of approximately 2,500 calories. The selected menu ... was designed to maintain body weight at zero gravity under light physical activity. The 8 Pillsbury items were designed to provide a high energy source that supplemented the rehydratable foods in the menu for each meal. They required no preparation time and provided solid food consistency. . . ." (CR, 9/9/65, A5095)
William Hines commented on the economy of low bidding in an article in the Washington Evening Star: "The lowest bidder still produces hardware for Uncle Sam's space effort, and this arrangement does not always prove the most economical in either time or money. A glaring example has developed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where America's moonport is rapidly nearing completion, "The lowest bidder has built two huge tank-like vehicles called `crawler-transporters' there, at a saving of almost $3 million below a competitive bidder's price. The only trouble is that the crawlers will not do the job they were designed for, which is to carry a Saturn V moon rocket on a mobile launching tower some three miles from an assembly building to where the rocket will actually blast. "Trouble has been traced to some tapered roller bearings... "There seems to be nothing wrong with the bearings, which are produced by the biggest and best known manufacturer of such items. The fault apparently lies in incorrect design assumptions which result in overloads sometimes being imposed on the bearings, causing them to fail. "Since the design-offered by the contractor, Marion Power Shovel Co.-was approved by NASA technical experts, the government will probably have to pay for the redesign necessary to make the crawler work. These redesign costs could well wipe out the difference between Marion's bid and the higher proposal of Bucyrus-Erie, another large builder of heavy mobile equipment... . "As it turns out, the false economy of low bidding in this instance may cause the United States to miss its stated goal in space: men on the moon in the '60s. Entirely aside from whether this is a worthwhile goal, it is a national objective and the national prestige is riding on it... ." (Hines, Wash. Eve. Star, 9/9/65)
Wall Street Journal space reporter wrote a "Memo on Space Semantics" to his editor: "I think you should be aware of some problems in semantics and etymology that are becoming acute as a result of the activities at Cape Kennedy. Unless we resolve some of these problems in the near future, I fear that a new space age neurosis may appear among our reporters and copy editors. "If you recall, since late 1957 there have been a number of hints that the advent of space exploration would create some new difficulties with our editorial style. First, there was the problem of deciding whether to italicize the Russian word 'sputnik.' Then we had to decide on the spelling and capitalization of 'a-okay' (or is it `A-OK'?). "Unfortunately, we are now encountering some difficulties which would tax the abilities of Clifton Fadiman, himself,. . . "Perhaps the most serious problem ... stems apparently from an oversight on the part of our ancestors. In writing out the names of the nine planets of our solar system it became evident that we have neglected to formally name our own planet. At least this is the only conclusion one can come to when it's noted that we capitalize the names of all the planets except our own, Webster, himself, insists on using a lower case `e' for earth while dignifying tiny Mercury with a capital. Even the minor planets such as Eros carry formal names. "The neglect is even more conspicuous in the instance of our own natural satellite. While the moons of other planets have exotic names such as Phobos we refer to ours in the generic and, consequently, with a lower case 'in'. "I suggest we either start capitalizing Earth and Moon or else ask the American Society of Newspaper Editors to convene an international conference to pick a name for our planet, While they're at it, they might decide whether `marsography' is a word and straighten out the planetary adjectives." (Bishop, WSJ, 9/9/65, 12)
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