Jul 9 1965
From The Space Library
Extraterrestrial dust particles would be collected by U.S. and foreign scientists using five rockets launched into the extreme upper atmosphere from Churchill Research Range, Canada, by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories ( AFCRL), NASA and USAF announced jointly. Each of the five Aerobee 150 rockets would carry a recoverable device called a "Venus Flytrap" designed to capture micrometeoroids and noctilucent cloud particles at various altitudes for laboratory inspection, NASA had provided partial funding for the project and had arranged for participation of organizations from abroad: the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Radio Physics Laboratory, Sydney, Australia; the National Center for Radioactivity Research (CNRS ), France; the Meteorological Institute, Stockholm Univ. Sweden; Max Planck Institute, Heidelberg, Germany; and the Univ. of Tel Aviv, Israel. (NASA Release 65-223; AFOAR Release 7-65-1)
Eleven of America's 34 astronauts left NASA Manned Spacecraft Center for a 10-day field trip into the volcanic regions of Iceland. Making the expedition were Edwin E. Aldrin, William Anders, Charles A. Bassett, Alan L. Bean, Eugene M. Cernan, Roger Chaffee, R. Walter Cunningham, Donn F. Eisele, Russell Schweickart, David R. Scott, and Clifton C. Williams. The trip would be part of the astronauts' training in the type of geological formations they might find on the moon. (UPI, Orl. Sent., 7/7/65)
Freeman J. Dyson, professor of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J, charged official Washington with the political "murder" of Project Orion, a nuclear-pulse-powered rocket, which he said would have been far better than any other kind of propulsion for rapid exploration of the solar system. The project was ended early this year after seven years of scientific and engineering studies that had cost $10.3 million and proved, Dyson said, the feasibility of nuclear-driven spacecraft. Its "killers," Dyson said, were DOD, NASA, the promoters of the nuclear test-ban treaty, and U.S. scientists generally. Writing in Science, Dyson continued: "The story of Orion is significant because this is the first time in modern history that a major expansion of human technology had been suppressed for political reasons." (Science, 7/9/65)
A J-2 rocket engine had been retired from service after being test-fired a total of 10,686 sec, in 60 separate tests, MSFC announced. J-2, developed for NASA by Rocketdyne Div. of North American Aviation, would burn liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and develop 200,000 lbs. thrust at altitude. Five clustered J-2's would provide a million lbs. thrust for the (second) stage of the Saturn V booster. A single J-2 would power the S-IVB, top stage for both the Saturn IB and Saturn V launch vehicles. ( MSFC Release 65-177)
Robert V. Reynolds was named Assistant FAA Administrator for General Aviation Affairs by FAA Administrator William F. McKee. Reynolds would serve the growing needs of general aviation which had more than 88,700 out of a total of 90,935 active civil aircraft. FAA had forecast that the general aviation fleet would grow to 105,000 by 1969. (FAA Release 65-58)
Yemen and Pakistan had signed agreements increasing to 46 the number of countries which had joined in the international joint venture for development of a global commercial communications satellite system, ComSatCorp announced. They would share with other nations in the financing and ownership of the space segment of the global system, consisting of the satellites themselves, tracking, control, and related functions, but not earth stations. (ComSatCorp Release)
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