Apr 19 1973

From The Space Library

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Current revision

The U.S.S.R., with the cooperation of the Polish People's Re­public, launched Intercosmos Copernicus 500 from Kapustin Yar to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of the Polish scientist Nicolaus Copernicus. The satellite entered orbit with a 1518-km (943.2-m ) apogee, 199-km (123.7-mi) perigee, 102.1-min period, and 48.4° inclina­tion. Copernicus 500-built by Soviet and Polish scientists and carrying Soviet, Polish, and Czechoslovakian instruments-measured solar radi­ation and characteristics of the earth's ionosphere before reentering Oct. 15. (GSFC SSR, 4/30/73, 10/31/73; Tass, FBIS-Sov, 4/20/73, L1; Warsaw PAP, FBis-Poland, 4/25/73, G4; SBD, 4/20/73, 238)

Cosmos 554 was launched by the U.S.S.R. from Plesetsk into orbit with a 329-km (204.4-mi) apogee, 171-km (106.3-mi) perigee, 89.4-min period, and 72.8° inclination. The spacecraft reentered May 27. West­ern observers believed it was a reconnaissance satellite and that it had exploded or been exploded during recovery. By the end of May more than 180 pieces had been recorded by tracking stations. (GSFC SSR, 4/30/73; 5/31/73; O'Toole, W Post, 5/19/73, A12; SBD, 4/20/73, 285 5/21/73, 116)

NASA and the Soviet Academy of Sciences had approved results of the Feb. 26-March 3 Moscow meeting of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Joint Working Group on Space Biology and Medicine, NASA announced. The Group had agreed on common medical procedures to permit comparison of pre- and post­flight data on astronaut and cosmonaut body functions. (NASA Release 73-79)

Johnson Space Center notified 45 Civil Service employees that they would be released because of NASA manpower reductions; an additional 38 were informed they would be reassigned or placed in lower-grade jobs. The action, to be completed by June 1, would reduce the JSC work force to 3727 Civil Service personnel. (JSC Release 73-40)

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