Aug 22 1972
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(New page: NASA announced preliminary timeline for Apollo 17 manned lunar landing mission. Spacecraft-carrying Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans, and Dr. [[Harrison H. Schmitt]...)
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NASA announced preliminary timeline for Apollo 17 manned lunar landing mission. Spacecraft-carrying Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans, and Dr. Harrison H. Schmitt would be launched from Kennedy Space Center at 9:53 pm EST Dec. 6. Lunar module would land on moon's Taurus-Littrow region at 2:55 pm EsT Dec. 11 and two crewmen would explore lunar surface for three extra-vehicular activity periods before LAI lifted off moon at 5:56 pm EST Dec. 14. Spacecraft would splash down in Pacific at 2:24 pm EST Dec. 19, after 304-hr 31-min mission. (NASA Release 72-169)
Revision of NASA's FY 1973 operating plan to adhere to $32-billion budget limitation would necessitate work reductions in manned space flight, NASA announced. Work reductions at Manned Spacecraft Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Kennedy Space Center would not affect Apollo 17 or Skylab launch schedules or safety and quality assurance requirements. Support contractor manpower at MSFC would be reduced by 600 to 700 positions. Cost ceilings also would necessitate additional reductions in prime contractor personnel. (NASA Release 72-176; MSFC Releases 72-111, 72-113)
Saturn IB stage for Skylab 2 arrived at Kennedy Space Center on NASA barge Orion. Saturn IB would launch command and service module to join orbiting Skylab Workshop day after Workshop launch as Skylab 1 in 1973. Stage would be processed in Vehicle Assembly Building and would be erected on Mobile Launcher Aug. 31 at KSC. Arrival of stage marked first time in nearly four years that a Saturn IB had been in processing at KSC and first time vehicle would undergo flight preparation in VAB. Last mission for a Saturn IB was Apollo 7 earth-orbital mission Oct. 11, 1968. (KSC Release 246-72)
NASA announced it would continue Life Scientist Program for 1972 with award of up to five three-year institutional grants for research relevant to NASA needs. Principal investigators and their designated graduate students, selected from proposals due Nov. 20, would devote one third of their time to research at Manned Spacecraft Center, Ames Research Center, or Langley Research Center. Study areas would include physiological and psychological processes and medical aspects of manned space flight, changes in man's health and safety, design of advanced life support systems, man-machine integration, human augmentation devices, bioinstrumentation, habitability considerations, and use of flight environment to understand living systems better. Other areas announced by Dr. Charles A. Berry, NASA Director for Life Sciences, were possible existence of life elsewhere in universe, scientific explanation of life's origin, and detection and characterization from space of ecological phenomena on earth or other planets. Step-funded grants would not exceed $50 000 annually and would support maximum. of 50% of scientist's salary. (NASA Release 72-175)
NASA and Soviet Academy of Sciences had approved Summary of Results of second meeting of Joint Working Group on the Natural Environment, NASA announced. Group had exchanged information in Washington, D.C., May 8-12 and defined further investigations in structural geology, surface geology and geomorphology, archeology, hydrology, agriculture, soil moisture, and oceanography. Coordinated satellite observations in these areas were contemplated. Next meeting of Group, established under NASA and Academy of Sciences agreement of January 1971, would be held in Moscow at year's end. (NASA Release 72-171)
President Nixon signed H.R. 15097, $8.393-billion Dept. of Transportation and related agencies appropriations act that contained $1.671-billion Federal Aviation Administration appropriation. Act became Public Law 92-398. (PD, 8/28/72, 1288; FAA pm)
Lockheed Aircraft Corp. and Japanese government were discussing production in Japan of twin-engine version of Lockheed TriStar transport aircraft, Wall Street Journal reported. McDonnell Douglas had pro-posed production in Japan of smaller-version DC-10. (WSJ, 8/22/72, 8)
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