Jul 24 1978
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(New page: NASA announced that mission controllers at ARC had completed final course adjustments for the Pioneer 11 encounter with Saturn Sept. 1, 1978. Controllers reported Pioneer 11 had lo...)
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NASA announced that mission controllers at ARC had completed final course adjustments for the Pioneer 11 encounter with Saturn Sept. 1, 1978. Controllers reported Pioneer 11 had locked on a trajectory that would bring it within 30 000km (18 000mi) of the edge of Saturn's outer ring; any approach closer to the ring edge would risk impact with fragments in the ring. Pioneer 11 would then swing under the plane of the rings to a point 25 000km (15 000mi) from the planet's surface. Without the course correction, Pioneer 11 would have flown by Saturn at a much greater distance (100 000km or 60 000mi). Pioneer data transmitted to NASA tracking stations indicated the spacecraft had responded perfectly to a day-long series of commands calling for timed rocket thrusts to alter its trajectory. (NASA Release 78-113)
NASA announced the ground breaking on a mountaintop near Boone, N.C., for the largest U.S. wind-turbine generator, scheduled for completion later in 1978. Using two 30m (100ft) steel rotor blades, the wind turbine would produce 2000kw of electric power in winds of about 39 to 69km (24 to 40mi) per hr, enough to meet the needs of about 500 homes' in and around Boone, and would be the largest system field-tested by a local utility under DOE's wind-systems development program managed by LeRC. General Electric Co. had been prime contractor for the Boone machine, which would be field-tested by the Blue Ridge Electrical Membership Corp. (NASA Release 78-105; DOE Release R-78-270)
LaRC announced that Dr. Peter Calder, project director for the Olympus 593 engine at Rolls Royce Ltd., Bristol, England, would be guest speaker at a center colloquium July 31 on "Engine Options for Supersonic Cruise Aircraft." Calder would discuss the Olympus 593 twin-spool turbojet engine produced by Rolls Royce in Britain and SNECMA in France, which had powered the Concorde supersonic jet transport. He would describe development of the engine and its inlet, and discuss possible modifications to improve propulsion system operating efficiency and environmental acceptability. Concorde supersonic passenger service from Paris and London to South America and the Middle East had been under way for 2.5yr and to North America for 2yr, initially to Washington, D.C., and then to New York. (LaRC Release 78-38;. Langley Researcher, July 28/78, 2)
INTELSAT announced that it, together with the Federal Republic of Germany and Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (MBB), had funded development of a new high-efficiency solar-power collector. MBB had built the lightweight deployable solar array for use in satellites of the 1980s, with AEG Telefunken as subcontractor for solar cells on the array surface. ComSatCorp laboratories in Clarksburg, Md., had tested the array. Its weight, considerably less than that of current counterparts, would mean lower launch costs, and its higher power output would handle more onboard satellite electronics, enlarging its communications capacity. At the beginning of a 7yr mission, the new solar array would provide up to 38watts of power per kg of weight, a 300% increase over current models. Incorporating thin solar cells in the design might increase output to 50watts of power per kg of weight. (INTELSAT Release 78-22-I)
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