Jun 6 1975
From The Space Library
The establishment of a science advisory office in the White House, when it has to be urged on the President rather than conceived by him or his close associates, "is virtually irrelevant to the workings of the White House," Daniel S. Greenberg said in a Washington Post article. Greenberg pointed out that the President already had National Science Foundation Director Dr. H. Guyford Stever, whose office was assigned a pared-down version of the presidential advisory function when President Nixon dispensed within-house science advice in 1973. Although Dr. Stever possessed all the right qualifications and was eager to serve, "Mr. Ford has had more conversations with golf pros over the years than he has had with Mr. Stever." The science community had agitated for the return of a science adviser by appealing to Congress and appointing committees of distinguished scientists who duly certified that the President suffered from the absence of a science adviser close at hand.
Although President Ford decided in favor of the appointment, still unresolved was whether a science office would be more useful than the NSF-based operation. Past Presidents had-not often used their science advice. "The bookshelves of the Executive Office Building bear innumerable aging reports of early warnings by scientists concerning problems of energy, food, resources, pesticides, pollution, drug safety, and so forth, but few [Presidents] chose to listen." Science advice was a valuable resource for a President who chose to employ it, "for as grating as they often are with their contentions of superior wisdom, scientists do possess experience and talent that can be put to good political use." President Ford's move had little significance as far as the Ford administration was concerned, and it would "add up to nothing more than a cosmetic device" if the new science office had no jurisdiction over military research and development, a function sliced away from the advisory role under President Nixon's reorganization.
"But if a science office is in place at the White House, the next administration can get good service from it if it chooses to do so. The sad history of the matter is that, with rare exceptions, Presidents have not made that choice." (Greenberg, W Post, 6 June 75, A28)
During recovery operations of the U.S. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project astronauts, the Apollo spacecraft would not be retrieved by helicopter as usual on Apollo missions, Dr. Donald E. Stullken, chief of Johnson Space Center's Mission Support Branch, said during a press briefing. Instead, the recovery ship would steam up alongside the command module and haul it aboard using the ship's boat and aircraft crane. Navy personnel would open the hatch and the crew would step out on the ship's deck.
Arnold D. Aldrich, deputy manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office at JSC, said that the most extensive modification required for the ASTP mission was redesigning the Soyuz spacecraft to accommodate the newly added docking system. The front end of the Soyuz had been modified with respect to structural configuration, thermal design, and the requirement to fit all the new system under the launch shroud that covered the entire Soyuz during the boost phase.
John E. McLeaish, JSC Public Affairs Officer, said that NASA would provide U.S. and Soviet air-to-ground communications, air-to-air communications, and U.S.- and U.S.S.R.-originated commentary for newsmen during the mission. All Russian would be translated simultaneously into English, using a "voice-over" technique; a few communication lines would transmit raw Russian with no translation. The U.S.S.R. would provide an interpreter to assist newsmen in the U.S. with interpretation or explanation, if necessary.
Questioned about the political significance of the ASTP mission, U.S. crew member Donald K. Slayton replied, "I think we'd be naive to assume that this program is going to end all conflicts between our two societies, certainly. I think ... it's a step in that direction, but there's little doubt in my mind that we're going to continue to have conflicts in many different areas. However, if we can kind of break the ground and get at least one area where we continue to work constructively on something, we're certainly not going to end up in any major confrontation." (Transcripts)
Marshall Space Flight Center issued a request for quotations for a proposed study contract to design, build, test, and deliver a full-scale solar-array wing for solar electric propulsion and Space Shuttle pray load applications. The selected contractor would establish design requirements and -develop techniques for low-cost fabrication and testing incorporating all previously developed technology. (MSFC Release 75-109)
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