Sep 9 1976
From The Space Library
An aviation-policy declaration issued by the Ford administration today went beyond a similar policy issued in 1970, the New York Times reported, quoting Transportation Secy. William T. Coleman, Jr., who drafted the policy, as saying the timing of the declaration was "85% coincidental" with current talks between the U.S. and Britain on Britain's plan to withdraw unilaterally from the Bermuda agreement on transatlantic air passenger markets. The new policy emphasized the U.S. view that private carriers operating without subsidy could offer the most efficient service to air travelers. Britain wanted a new Anglo-American agreement to reduce the number of transatlantic flights, giving the government-owned British Airways about half of what remained; it currently had about 34% of the market. Charles Robinson, Deputy Secretary of State, had told a press conference that unilateral withdrawal from the Bermuda agreement was an "improper and illegal" way to force the reduction in flight numbers. The new U.S. statement endorsed the idea of trimming excess passenger capacity [see 8 Aug.] but opposed a rigid division of the market into equal shares, pointing out that two thirds of the passengers originate in the U.S. The statement also called for more flexibility in charter rules, the addition of domestic feeder routes to strictly international carriers such as Pan Am to fill seats between domestic cities, and elimination of cross-subsidization (promotional discounts) so that economy-fare passengers would not subsidize bargain fare customers. (NYT, 9 Sept 76, 5)
A nickel-zinc battery improved by space technology, installed in a utility van and tested against a regulation lead-acid battery, ran the delivery vehicle nearly twice as far at a constant speed of about 32 kph, Lewis Research Center announced. The improved battery would be able to meet the needs of 95% of the nation's drivers for a full-service urban vehicle and could help to reduce dependence on petroleum. The improvement consisted of an inorganic separator adapted from space battery technology. LeRC planned further studies of the battery's life, performance, and competitive cost, using sample batteries in mail pickup and delivery vans with the cooperation of the U.S. Postal Service. (NASA Release 76-155)
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced opening of a new ground station near Michelstadt/Odenwald, West Germany, that would include two 15m-dia parabolic antennas that would be operational for the launches of ESA satellites Geos and Meteosat in 1977. Geos, first geostationary scientific satellite, and Meteosat, Europe's first meteorological satellite, would remain in uninterrupted contact with the Odenwald station because of their geostationary orbits. The two antennas represented an innovation in the field of telecommunications, ESA said, because of a special construction: To avoid mutual interference with ground-to-ground links operated by the W. German post office, the special construction resulted in an exceptionally low sidelobe level heretofore unattained, without reducing the station's telecommunications performance. The station would be inaugurated 14 Sept. by Hans Matthofer, German minister for research and technology, and Roy Gibson, ESA's director general. (ESA release 13 Sept 76)
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