Aug 1 1976
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Scientists at JPL, where the Viking 1 mission was being directed, were startled at responses from 2 of 3 instruments reporting on the first Mars surface samplings. The labeled-release instrument, designed to count radioactive molecules released by a process feeding tagged nutrients to a soil sample, had counted 4 times as many radioactive releases as would have resulted from a similar earth sample: 4537 per min for the first 9 hr 20 min it counted, compared to about 100 counts per min from Calif. soil sampled in a prelaunch test, and no more than 750 per min from soil gathered in the dry valleys of Antarctica. The rapidity and magnitude of the response were "quite surprising," said Dr. Gilbert Levin of Biospherics. Inc., which built the instrument.
Another Viking instrument, the gas-exchange experiment that dampened a surface sample with nutrients and monitored the resultant release of gas, detected an increase in oxygen released by the sample 15 times greater than was explainable by the Mars atmosphere or by oxidation of minerals similar to earth soils. The same instrument 24 hr later reported an increase in oxygen release 30% greater than that detected the first day. Scientists said the results might be attributed to superoxides, produced by intense ultraviolet solar radiation on the Mars surface, reacting with the extremely iron-rich Martian soil, not shielded by atmosphere as earth's surface is. Further information would be needed to reach firm conclusions, said Dr. Harold Klein of Ames Research Center, chief Viking biologist. (W Post, 1 Aug 76, A-1; NYT, 1 Aug 76, 4-8)
Having completed a yr of service to India's Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), Ats 6 began a 4-mo journey back to an orbital location over the Western Hemisphere to take part in experiments using direct broadcasting for education and health care. During its journey, it would be used by NASA in a project with the U.S. Agency for Intl. Development (AID) to demonstrate the potential of direct broadcasting to officials in more than 24 developing countries.
The first set of demonstrations-known as AIDSAT, for AID space-age technology-would begin between 1 and 26 Aug. for 11 developing countries and one international conference; the program would consist of 3 films created especially for the purpose, one on communications technology for national development, one on use of satellites for natural resources monitoring, and one on use of satellites for disaster prediction and relief. After these films the host country would transmit a 30-min program originated in the terminal in each nation's capital; then a 2-way discussion would be shown in which U.S. officials conversant with space technology and U.S. assistance would talk with representatives of the host country. President Ford would present an initial greeting, and astronaut Owen K. Garriott would be moderator of the first 5 programs.
Of the 12 programs planned, those to Thailand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were broadcast first, and subsequent ones were scheduled 9 Aug. to the United Arab Emirates, 10 Aug. to Oman, 16 Aug. to Jordan, 17 Aug. to Kenya, and 18 Aug. to Yemen. On 23 Aug. the program would address the Conference on Applied Science and Technology in the Arab World at Rabat, Morocco; programs to Libya, Sudan, and Morocco would be broadcast during the remainder of August. A second group of demonstrations would begin in late Sept., and 15 more countries in Africa, Central and South America, and the Caribbean had been invited to participate. (NASA Release 76-140)
By the yr 2000, mankind would have chosen between global cooperation and mutual destruction, said biochemist Isaac Asimov, professor at the Boston Univ. School of Medicine and one of the most prolific science fiction writers. In an article copyrighted by the Phila. Bulletin, Asimov set forth his predictions which envisioned a single world power: a global community would grow in which more and more of the world's activities would be under control of multinational organizations, approaching a 21st-century global government, unless the nations were willing to settle for mutual suicide. The U.S. population would be less than now predicted, Asimov said, about 265 million, with government policies keeping growth to a minimum. The world population would have reached about 6 billion, a 50% increase from that of 1976. The U.S. would be searching for ways to use its food supplies to encourage a saner population policy; it would not be able to hoard its food for profitable sales because the welfare of the U.S. would depend on a strong world economy and "as non-desperate a world population as possible." The U.S. would be more nearly a vegetarian nation, both because of the higher yield per acre of grain and other plant food than if used for animal raising and because of the adverse effect on world opinion if the U.S. continued its wasteful eating habits while others starved.
World opinion would have more power to affect national policy in the yr 2000; improved electronic communications would bring peoples closer and make them effectively part of a global community. Petroleum fuels would diminish and no longer serve as the major energy source; coal would become more important, as would wind power and solar and geothermal energy. By the yr 2000 the world would embark on new technological advance, whatever the apparent benefit, with more caution and foresight. A space colony would be under construction, to serve both as a human habitat and as a solar-power station. As the number of such colonies increased, population expansion might again be possible, plus sufficient energy to satisfy a hungry world. The yr 2000 would probably be a dark time, Asimov said, but would offer hope to all those alive for a brighter future for their children. (C Trib, 1 Aug 76, 23)
Tass, the official Soviet press agency, said that permanent monitoring of earth from space would soon be a possibility because of advances in manned space missions, citing a progress report on the cosmonauts (Boris Volynov and Vitaly Zholobov) who had been orbiting the earth in the Salyut 5 space laboratory since 7 July. Major tasks of the cosmonauts, Tass said, were to survey Soviet territory below the 52nd parallel and compile detailed maps; analyze geological formations for possible gas, oil, and ore deposits; and study seismic activity or storms and forest fires. A previous report described a photographic search for minerals by the two cosmonauts, who photographed the southern Ukraine, Moldavia, the Altai territory of Soviet Central Asia, and the Caspian lowlands. Tass did not say whether a permanent monitoring service would be automatic or man-operated, or if the USSR planned to inaugurate such a service. (LA Times, 31 July 76, 1 Aug 76)
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