March 1972

From The Space Library

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Current revision

NASA released Funds for Research, Development, R&D Plant and Scientific Technical Information, Fiscal Years 1971-1973: Annual Report to the National Science Foundation. Report, for inclusion in government-wide survey published by NSF for Congress, White House, Government agencies, and scientific community, showed distribution of NASA funds based on FY 1973 budget estimates. It reflected NASA's total direct obligations incurred in FY 1971 and budget estimates for FY 1972 and FY 1973. In FY 1973 NASA would fund approximately 19% of Federal Government's total research and development effort and provide 23% of funds for research, alone. When Dept. of Defense was excluded from computation, NASA was expected to conduct 36% of total civilian R&D effort. Total research in FY 1973 was expected to show 4% increase over FY 1971. For first time since FY 1962 research would represent over 50% of NASA funding for Research and Development. Increase in research resulted in decreased funding for development, with impending completion of Apollo and Skylab development; decrease was offset to a degree by funds applied to begin space shuttle development. Analysis of funding showed decline in engineering funds of about 7% of total, with increases in physical and life sciences. Reduction in engineering reflected anticipated completion of Apollo. High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAD) program effected increase in astronomy, and Viking program, increase in chemistry and biology. (Text)

Scope of United Kingdom participation in space was described by A. V. Cleaver in Spaceflight article. British annual space budget was $70 million, "little more than half of the French or German," and "about an eighth of the American" on gross national product (GNP) basis. "While the effort on space is markedly increasing in France, Germany and Japan, is decreasing in the USA only from an initially very high level, and is beginning to be significant even in India and China, for the UK there is a decrease in real terms." U.K. had canceled Black Arrow launch vehicle program and ceased participation in main programs of European Launcher Development Organization (ELDO). Geostationary Test Satellite project to replace Black Arrow "has not yet been firmly initiated-though ... official intention to do so has at least been indicated." U.K. space policy had "moved in recent years from a modest interest in all aspects of the subject to an almost complete concentration on satellites or spacecraft, to the exclusion of launch vehicles." Policy was based on assumptions that satellite was most technically interesting and commercially profitable aspect of space activities; that U.K. was "not too far behind to catch up in this field, whereas we are on launchers"; and that there was no need to duplicate U.S. rocket achievements because U.S. would sell Europe necessary launch vehicles. (SF, 3/72, 99-102)

First successful transmission of fingerprint records via satellite, using Ats 1 (launched Dec. 6, 1966) was reported by Government Photography. Fingerprints and photos filed by Videofilm system equipment in Sacramento, Calif., were transmitted as video signals to Videofile system in Tallahassee, Fla.; converted to video recordings; and retrieved by "instant replay" as TV pictures and printed copies in experiment to demonstrate possible state-to- Federal Government finger-print transmission under permanent satellite system. Experiment had been conducted in December 1971 by Project Search (System for Electronic Analysis and Retrieval of Criminal Histories), funded by Law Enforcement Assistance Administration and administered by California Crime Technological Research Foundation. (Govt Photo, 3/72, 24-5)

Development of small-scale water-reclamation units for home use from NASA-developed technology was forecast by Langley Research Center scientist Richard H. Weinstein in Astronautics & Aeronautics. NASA had begun in late 1950s to develop regenerative systems for purifying and recycling water for long-term space missions. "Research programs have been concentrated on . . . physio- chemical systems.... Using largely existing water-processing concepts, the development has gone toward making the concepts efficient on a small scale and adapting them, where necessary, to zero gravity." NASA systems were "far cry from the integrated, simplified systems needed for domestic water reclamation of the future" but provided "base from which to work." (A&A, 3/72, 45-51)

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