May 29 1973

From The Space Library

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Current revision

The U.S.S.R. launched a Meteor 15 weather satellite from Plesetsk to obtain "meteorological information for the use of the operational weather service." Orbital parameters: 896-km (556.7-mi) apogee, 852-km (529.4-mi) perigee, 102.4-min period, and 81:2ø inclination. The satellite carried equipment to receive day and night pictures of clouds and snow cover and data on the heat energy reflected and emitted by the earth and the atmosphere. (GSFC SSR, 5/31/73; Tass, FBIS-Sov, 5/30/73, L1; SBD, 5/30/73, 162)

Newspapers commented on the Skylab missions as Skylab 2 astronauts activated the Apollo Telescope Mount aboard the Skylab 1 Workshop, following repairs to the damaged spacecraft they had joined May 25 [see May 14-June 23].

Miami Nears editorial: "To us, the conquest of the moon, and now the building of a space station, demonstrated that this nation can accomplish just about anything it sets its mind on. The secret lies in the magic word, commitment. With the kind of commitment we pledged to the space program, we could indeed surmount the housing crisis, the crime crisis, the energy crisis, or any other crisis." (M News, 5/29/73)

Wall Street Journal article: Skylab 1's successful in-orbit repair had wide implications for the U.S. space program's future. "When the three Skylab astronauts erected a heat shield over their damaged space station, they both saved their mission and paved the way for future launching of two other missions in the $2.5 billion space-station program." They also had provided NASA with "a powerful argument for new manned-flight projects." NASA could contend that "the value of man in orbit has been proven in practice as well as in theory." While budget shortages would preclude any attempt to capitalize on Skylab's success before the space shuttle evolved, it had armed NASA against congressional critics of manned space flight. (Spivak, WSJ, 5/29/73)

New York Times columnist Russell Baker: "The space program until now has seemed less malevolent than most new ventures in technology, but to people watching those incessant countdowns at Cape Kennedy it has also seemed pointless." Lunar exploration had been "wonderful" but "it didn't really open any horizons for most of us, and it was certainly hard to see how it was going to improve man's lot." Skylab, by contrast, was wonderful. "There they are way up there-270 miles [435 kilometers] in the sky. They are attached to 100 tons [90 700 kilograms] of machinery which stretches out through space a distance of 118 feet [36 meters], about the length of an exciting pass play in the National Football League. And what are they doing? Repair work. They are fixing some of the machinery which doesn't work right." This was space with a purpose. "We ought to be asking why NASA didn't make this approach from the beginning instead of going after moon dust. The repair industry in this country could very well be rejuvenated by this trip, and not be a moment too soon, either." (NYT, 5/29/73, 31)

Florida's Gov. Reubin Askew signed into law a March 22 proposal to restore the name "Cape Canaveral" to Cape Kennedy on Florida state maps and documents. The designation of Kennedy Space Center would remain unchanged. (AP, W Star & News, 5/30/73, A2; KSC PIO, Fact Sheet, 1/74)

The Soviet research ship Professor Vize sailed from Leningrad with 60 scientists from Soviet weather service centers on an expedition to collect data on ionizing radiation of the sun and its influence on the upper stratosphere. During the two-month project the scientists would observe the June 30 solar eclipse, launch a series of high-altitude research rockets with onboard measuring instruments and photo equipment, and take deep measurements of the Atlantic Ocean. (Tass, FBIS-Sov, 6/1/73, L7)

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