May 15 1975
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(New page: The National Science Foundation marked the 25th anniversary of its establishment at a dinner at the Dept. of State in Washington, D.C. Dr. Norman Hackerman, chairman of the National Scienc...)
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The National Science Foundation marked the 25th anniversary of its establishment at a dinner at the Dept. of State in Washington, D.C. Dr. Norman Hackerman, chairman of the National Science Board, presided at the dinner hosted by the 25-member board, the policy-making body of NSF. Among those present were many former board members, including the six charter members appointed by President Truman in 1950, and representatives of the scientific community, industry, and the executive and legislative branches of government.
President Ford sent a message saluting NSF: "In the last quarter century the National Science Foundation has become the Nation's principal agency for the support of basic research and education in all fields of scientific endeavor. The creation of the National Science Foundation represented a culmination of our national understanding of the role of science in our society. In the last two and a half decades, the Foundation has built a prestigious reputation for sound scientific exploration to improve the quality of life for all." Dr. H. Guyford Stever, NSF Director, announced plans to establish an Alan T. Waterman Award for research and advanced study in the mathematical, physical, medical, biological, engineering, social, and other sciences. Dr. Waterman had been the first NSF Director. (NSF Release PR75-47)
NASA had awarded a definitive $140 577 924 contract to Thiokol Corp. Wasatch Div. for solid rocket motors for the Space Shuttle, MSFC announced. A previous letter contract issued 26 June 1974 had given Thiokol authority to proceed with the work which included design, development, test, and evaluation of the solid rocket motor. The contracts also called for Thiokol to provide support equipment, tooling and support parts, systems-integration support and special studies, and data and documentation. (MSFC Release 75-91)
The National Science Foundation and the Univ. of Wyoming announced plans for construction of a 213-em infrared telescope near Laramie, Wyo. To cost $1,.6 million and be operational in late 1977, it would be the largest of its kind in the continental U.S. and one of the largest in the world.
To be used for study of objects in our galaxy and beyond and for study of the more distant stars, the instrument would be a Cassegrain telescope mounted on a ring 3 m high and housed in a building with a 14-m dome capable of operating automatically in subzero weather. The facility would also contain equipment for infrared detection systems and a laboratory-dormitory for observers.
The state of Wyoming had committed $975 000 for construction and NSF was committing $625 000. Operating costs would be shared by the state and users. (NSF Release PR75-421 Kennedy Space Center announced the selection of Modular Computer Systems, Inc., for final negotiations on a $6.7-million fixed-price contract for equipment associated with the Space Shuttle launch processing system. The company would provide minicomputers and their associated equipment, software, maintenance, spares, and engineering support. The launch-processing system now under development at KSC would provide automatic test, checkout, launch control, and operational management for NASA's Space Shuttle program. (KSC Release 69-75)
Kennedy Space Center had issued $7.5 million in awards and contracts to small businesses during the first 9 mo of FY 1975, bringing the total awarded to small businesses since FY 1970 to $61 million. The KSC set aside program required that all procurement requests exceeding $2500 be reviewed by the center's small-business specialist to determine if they could be set aside exclusively for small businesses. In addition, KSC had successfully participated in a program aimed at awarding contracts to minority-owned firms, with $7 million in awards made since the program began. (KSC Release 70-75)
15-16 May. U.S. and European scientists met at a Goddard Space Flight Center symposium to discuss the importance of a never-before-flown space mission out of the ecliptic plane, the pancake-like plane in which all planets orbit the sun. Symposium chairman Dr. Leonard A. Fisk said, "A view of the solar cavity [the region dominated by the sun through the flow of the solar wind] from outside the ecliptic plane is expected to expand greatly man's knowledge of interplanetary physics, solar physics, and plasma processes in the universe. To place a spacecraft in such an orbit brings expectations that we will witness new and exciting phenomena that we could neither observe nor predict from our present vantage point in the ecliptic plane." The scientists agreed that the missions under consideration could be undertaken jointly by NASA and the European Space, Research Organization: ESRO would have primary responsibility for the spacecraft, and NASA would provide the launch vehicle. (NASA Activities, June 75)
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