Sep 7 1972

From The Space Library

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Current revision

Skylab Orbital Workshop was delivered to Marshall Space Flight Center Director, Dr. Eberhard F. M. Rees, by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. President Walter F. Burke in Huntington Beach, Calif., ceremony attended by Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator. Workshop would be moved to U.S. Naval Facility at Seal Beach Sept. 8 for transfer to U.S.S. Point Barrow and 14-day voyage to Cape Kennedy. Workshop, weighing 25 000 kg (55 000 lb), was largest section of Skylab experimental space station scheduled for 1973 launch. (NASA Off Admin; Miles, LA Times, 9/8/72)

NASA released three photos of Mars taken by Mariner 9 Aug. 7. Pictures showed that Mars north polar icecap was shrinking and showed sedimentary systems during late spring. Fractured terrains, partially flooded by volcanic extrusions, were visible in center of planet. (LA Her-Exam, 9/7/72)

Special awards ceremony marking outstanding success of NASA's Mariner 9 Mars mission was held at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator-assisted by Dr. William H. Pickering, Jet Propulsion Laboratory|JPL]] Director, and Dr. Harold Brown, President of California Institute of Technology-presented 32 NASA medals. Dan Schneiderman, Manager of Mariner Project, was awarded NASA Distinguished Service Medal for "creative leadership in conception, organizational planning, and management of a highly efficient Mariner 9 team which . . . achieved all objectives of the most successfully productive mission to Mars." (Jet Propulsion Laboratory|JPL]] Release 624)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. George S. McGovern (D-S. Dak.) said during campaign visit to Manned Spacecraft Center that "future American space effort should focus on unmanned exploration." In statement released to press before his MSC tour, Sen. McGovern said he favored going ahead with earth resources experiment package (EREP). He accused Nixon Administration of eliminating some 500 000 aerospace jobs and 1.8 million positions in defense-related industries "with-out even thinking about new jobs to replace the ones destroyed." (Knee-land, NYT, 9/8/72, 20)

Report released by International Institute for Strategic Studies in London said full-range intercontinental-ballistic-missile test by People's Republic of China was probable "before long," since PRC had built instrumentation ship for monitoring ICBM test. Report, Military Balance 1972-73, said 1972 was turning point in global strategic balance be-cause year had brought codification of nuclear parity between super-powers and shift in Middle East with withdrawal of Soviet military advisers from Egypt. Strategic arms limitation agreement had curbed numerically the strategic arms systems of both superpowers, but the qualitative arms race continued. (UPI, W Star & News, 9/8/72, A6)

September 7-8: Seventh Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium at Manned Spacecraft Center was sponsored by MSC, California Institute of Technology, and Lockheed Missiles & Space Co., Inc. Symposium documented and discussed operational mechanism problems and experiences from Apollo program and considered unique mechanism areas for future programs like Apollo Soyuz Test Project and space shuttle. Use of docking-system computer program to analyze dynamic environment produced by two impacting spacecraft and attitude control systems was discussed by MSC engineer John A. Schliesing. Performance studies had indicated capture latching was most sensitive to vehicle angular- alignment errors and least sensitive to lateral-miss error. Load- sensitivity studies had shown that peak loads acting on Apollo space-craft were lower than Apollo design-limit loads. Computer simulation of docking dynamics had been developed to support design and development of compatible docking system for international rendezvous and docking mission (IRDM). (NASA Preprint of Papers: MSC-07219; MSC PAO)

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