Mar 8 1973
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Communications Satellite Corp. sought authority from the Federal Communications Commission to construct advanced satellites and related ground control facilities for lease to American Telephone & Telegraph Co. to provide domestic satellite services to all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Each satellite would provide 14 400 two-way voice grade circuits. Ground stations for tracking, telemetry, and command duties would be in Connecticut and California. The ComSatCorp filing was similar to one made in October 1970 and revised in March 1971, and would expand coverage to include Hawaii and Puerto Rico. (ComSatCorp Release 73-12)
ERTS 1 Earth Resources Technology Satellite (launched July 23, 1972) photos showing pollution spreading across Lake Champlain would be used in court as evidence against a factory accused of discharging pollution, the Washington Post reported. The case, brought by the state of Vermont against the state of New York and the International Paper Corp., would mark the first use of a satellite photo in legal action. The photo, of Lake Champlain from 900-km (560-mi) altitude, showed a brown circle extending 0.6 km (0.4 mi) from the New York shore and originating from an International Paper Corp. mill. (O'Toole, W Post, 3/8/73, A3)
The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. completed their joint 20-day Bering Sea mission, begun Feb. 17 to determine the sea's surface characteristics, ice cover, and currents originating in the Pacific. NASA's instrumented Convair 990 aircraft, a Soviet 11-18 aircraft, U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Staten Island, and Soviet weathership Priboy had gathered data for processing in mainland laboratories. (Moscow Domestic 'Service, FBIS-Sov, 3/8/73, C2)
The House Committee on Science and Astronautics' Subcommittee on Aeronautics and Space Technology continued hearings on the FY 1974. NASA authorization. George W. Cherry, Deputy Associate Administrator for Programs in the NASA Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, described the Dept. of Transportation Climatic-Impact Assessment Program (CIAP), in which NASA was cooperating: The CIAP "undertakes to assess the potential impact on the atmosphere of large fleets of SSTs [supersonic transports] operating in the eighties and the biological consequences of their potential modification of the stratosphere. We are cooperating with DOT by contributing to the technology needs of CIAP, with particular emphasis on the levels to which pollution can be limited." Contradictory requirements for civil transport aircraft (low-fuel consumption engines required by SSTs for good range and payload characteristics, tended to be extremely noisy in terminal areas) might be best met by variable-cycle engines that varied their mode of operation in each condition of the flight profile. NASA would "intensively study variable cycle-engine concepts in FY 1974."
Dr. Seymour C. Himmel, Deputy Associate Administrator for Technology in OAST, testified that hypersonic research for potential application to military and civil air breathing cruise vehicles was directed at "the critical aspects of propulsion, structures, and aerodynamics for this flight regime where hydrogen is used both as the fuel and as a coolant." Hydrogen was the most likely candidate for hypersonic aircraft fuel because its high coolant capacity was essential for a propulsion system to survive in the high-temperature environment, and liquid hydrogen's coolant capacity could cool portions of the vehicle's structure away from the engine area. NASA's structures and materials program provided essential technology for designing lightweight, reliable, actively cooled structures and advanced the technology of actively cooling structures heated to high temperatures. The program also extended shuttle technology on reusable surface insulation toward hypersonic cruise application.
Flight Research Center test pilot Gary E. Krier testified on 'NASA's digital fly-by-wire program to develop an all-electric flight-control system using intelligence inserted into the digital computer memory. "We did this by using refurbished Apollo equipment and two surplus [Navy] F-8 fighters. Using this approach, we estimate we flew about 2 years earlier than we otherwise could have." To date, NASA had flown 15 DFBW flights with no major problems. "Airliners that 'we'll ride in the 1980's could profit from fly-by-wire in the form of smooth flight at very high speeds and the near elimination of the response to turbulence by computer application of smoothing controls." The "best use of FBW" was to build a control-configured vehicle [CCV] with reduced drag, increased lift, and slower approach and landing speeds. "It has been estimated that landing speed could be cut by 25 percent and range increased 15 percent with no sacrifice in mission capability, just by modifying existing aircraft. A much larger improvement in performance could be gained by starting from scratch with FBW. We have been refining aircraft for years now, and the FBW/CCV combination gives us a chance to make a quantum jump in aircraft performance.” (Transcript)
NASA launched an Aerobee 170 sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range carrying an American Science and Engineering, Inc., solar physics experiment to a 170.1-km (105.7-mi) altitude. The rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (GSFC proj off)
Secretary of the Navy John W. Warner and Grumman Corp. President John C. Bierwirth signed an agreement for the Grumman Aerospace Corp. to build 48 additional F-14 jet fighter aircraft at current contract prices. The Navy would not exercise further options under the current contract and would limit its purchases to 134 aircraft. Future purchases would be dependent upon congressional authorization and funding. (Text)
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