Jul 22 1975
From The Space Library
The National Research Council's Space Applications Board, directed by the National Academy of Sciences and a NASA contract, released a report entitled "Practical Applications of Space Systems," with particular emphasis on approaches to socioeconomic benefits. The report stated that present institutional arrangements were "not adequate" to encourage future applications of space technology to promising areas such as natural resource exploration and management, telecommunications for education and health care, and longrange weather and climate forecasting. The report added: "There exists at present no institutional mechanism that permits the large body of potential users... to express their needs and to have a voice in matters leading to the definition of new systems." Recommendations by the board included establishment of a national space applications council to direct policies affecting nonmilitary space applications; to set priorities for meeting user needs; to provide for exchanges between users and providers of space technology; and to encourage non-Federal investment in the application of space systems. The council could operate as an interagency group, with representation from state and local governments.
To meet the launch needs of future applications satellites, the board recommended that plans for the Space Shuttle provide an early opportunity to orbit payloads in either polar or geosynchronous orbits. The Shuttle-launched payloads would have applications in hazardous weather warnings and long-range weather and climate predictions; land-use planning; agriculture, forest, and range management; exploration for food, water, energy, and mineral resources; and environmental monitoring.
Other specific recommendations included lower cost, more accessible ground data-collection and readout stations; long-term observations of climatic factors-such as albedo, heat control of mixed layer in ocean, cloud distribution, and climatically significant changes in vegetation, land use, and snow and ice cover to help provide a sound basis for long-range weather prediction; a resolution of 3 to 10 m for land-use applications; greater emphasis on Federal research and development programs for spaceborne sensors of water resources; continued development of earth physics techniques, including a system to measure relative displacement of tectonic plates within 3 cm; and vigorous continuation of the SEASAT-A and Nimbus- C programs.
The board had based its findings on the deliberations of 110 potential users of space-derived information and services who had attended a July 1974 study group in Colorado. The participants represented Federal agencies, state and local governments, industrial and business communities, and educational institutions. ("Practical Applications of Space Systems," NAS publ, July 75)
Although more than 26 million Americans watched the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project handshake in space, TV coverage was "adequate without being particularly outstanding," TV critic Lee Winfrey said in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Two obstacles were insurmountable. NASA "is doggedly efficient, it got us to the moon first and it did the job again this time. But it is as colorless as a pane of glass and invariably capable of making the highest excitement look like the dullest routine." NASA had an unshakable air of the 1950s about it: all white, all male, crewcut, and straight-shouldered.
The second obstacle was that the mission was "another goodie that Richard Nixon dreamed up for us. Which means it was all show and no substance." The U.S. paid $250 million for an aerial handshake.
"Nixon made us buddies with Brezhnev and so, through shadow shows like Apollo-Soyuz, we are supposed to remain." (Winfrey, P Inq, 22 July 75)
Jackson M. Balch, director of NASA's National Space Technology Laboratories (NSTL)-formerly the Mississippi Test Facility-announced plans to. retire. As head of the test facility for 10 yrs, Balch managed testing of Saturn V rockets for both the Apollo and Skylab programs. (NASA anno, 22 July 75)
22-23 July: Nearly 200 NASA managers, engineers, and scientists headed by Dr. Edgar M. Cortright, Langley Research Center Director, and Viking Project Manager James S. Martin, Jr.-met at Kennedy Space Center for the Viking launch-readiness review. Those attending-including Dr. John E. Naugle, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator, and Dr. Noel Hinners, Associate Administrator for Space Science-heard status reports on the launch vehicle, spacecraft, and launch and tracking preparations. Everything was "in excellent shape" for the 11 Aug. launch of the nation's first mission to land unmanned spacecraft on Mars, said Martin. "We still have three weeks of work ahead, but time to do it in an orderly fashion, and no significant open items." Viking- A would be mated with the Titan-Centaur launch vehicle on 28 July, followed by specialized tests, including an operational readiness test 6 Aug. during which the entire NASA and contractor Viking team would go through the countdown and several hours of simulated flight.
Problems discussed during the review included the x-band radio on the Viking-B Orbiter in which a defective coaxial cable had been replaced. A leak discovered in the Viking-A gas chromatograph mass spectrometer after sterilization was found to be so small 0.000864 cubic centimeters per day-that it would not affect the mission. (NASA Releases 75-210, 75-216; KSC Release 156-75)
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