Jun 23 1978
From The Space Library
NASA declared the launch from Cape Kennedy at 6:36pm Mar. 31 of INTELSAT IVA F-6, last of the INTELSAT IVA series, to be successful. NASA had launched the satellite on an Atlas Centaur into the desired transfer orbit, thus meeting all objectives. Orbital parameters had been 35 912km apogee, 548.8km perigee, 21.84° inclination. ComSatCorp had fired the apogee kick motor Apr. 1 to place the satellite in a near geosynchronous orbit that would take it at mid-June to its final location at 63°E over the Indian Ocean. (MOR E-491-633-78-06 [postlaunch], June 23/78)
NASA announced that the USAF Space and Missile Test Command at Vandenberg AFB would launch SEASAT-A on a modified Atlas-F booster no earlier than June 26. Anthony Calio, associate administrator for space and terrestrial applications, noted that NASA had established a launch date of May 17, 1978, early in the program, and had maintained it even when a resolicitation of bids became necessary because of adding a sensor to the original complement. The launch date had slipped from May 17 to June 10 because of a late start of thermal-vacuum testing, and subsequent replacement of a cracked alumina substrate in the power amplifier of the data link. The launch date had then slipped to June 24, then to June 26, because of Atlas-F booster problems [see June 12]. The USAF had grounded the entire Atlas-F fleet for analysis and testing, but this had not delayed NASA's schedule, as rework had continued while the vehicle remained on the stand. (MOR E-655-78-01 [prelauch] June 23/78; Spaceport News, June 23/78, 1; Lewis News, June 23/78, 1; Marshall Star, June 21/78, l; Langley Researcher, June 30/78, 1; DFRC X-Press, June 16/78, 3; JPL Universe, June 23/78, 1; Nature, June 22/78, 586)
JSC researchers confirmed that a meteorite found by Dr. William Cassidy last winter on an expedition sponsored by NSF to the Antarctic [see Feb. 17] had proved to be one of the rarest types ever seen. A team of JSC meteorite experts using a binocular microscope had examined the fragment inside a lunar-type glove box flushed with dry nitrogen gas, and had sent an 0.4-gram sample to Dr. Brian Mason at the Smithsonian Institution for petrographic analysis of thin sections.
The fragment, 4.5 to 4.6 billion yr old, had been a Type 11 carbonaceous chondrite (so called because of its high carbon content) of which only 15 other samples had been found, though not in so clean a condition or so well-preserved. These chondrites had been shown to contain amino acids of nonterrestrial origin, suggesting chemical formation of complex organic molecules in other regions of the solar system. The fragment would next be characterized, sectioned, and fully documented; subsequent analysis would then continue. (JSC Release 78-26; JSC Roundup, June 9/78, 1; June 23/78, 1)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced its engineers had delivered the first hardware-a thermal-model tape recorder-for the earth-orbiting infrared astronomical satellite IRAS to their counterparts in the Netherlands for testing, before delivering the actual flight recorder in 1979 for installation in the IRAS satellite. A joint program by the U.S., the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, IRAS had been scheduled for launch from Vandenberg AFB in Feb. 1981, carrying a single experiment: a liquid-helium-cooled telescope to map the sky in infrared frequencies from 1 to 100microns. Infrared astronomers would use the data to construct an infrared sky map and a source catalog with roughly 1 million sources. IRAS would make about 14 orbits of earth daily, but only two daily data-transmitting passes over the U.K. ground station. The tape recorder would therefore store all data for transmission every 12hr. Odetics Corp. of Anaheim, Calif., had built the flight version of the tape recorder for shipment to the Netherlands, where the spacecraft was being built. After completing construction and installation of the telescope, IRAS would return to the U.S. for tests at JPL. (JPL Universe, June 23/78, 1)
LeRC reported that the center's flight operations group had modified a C-131 aircraft for data collection in monitoring earth resources (such as ice thickness on the Great Lakes and heat losses from residential and commercial buildings) by adding an auxiliary power unit, an electrical power-distribution system, special equipment racks, radar antennas, and an inertial-navigation system. Lockheed had constructed special windows and other modifications in the belly of the aircraft to accommodate aerial cameras and an 11-channel multispectral scanner system.
One of the C-131's remote sensing missions had conducted experiments over the Arctic ice ridge in the Beaufort and Bering Seas to see if airborne microwave instruments could obtain ice pressure information. LeRC had also used the aircraft to develop techniques and systems for reporting ice conditions in both fresh- and sea-ice areas for scientific and commercial applications and, cooperatively with EPA, to determine the effects of agricultural practices, strip mining, and land drainage. (LeRC News, June 23/78, 3)
INTELSAT announced it had elected Canadian Marcel Perras chairman of its board of governors and Randolph Payne of Australia vice chairman. Perras, vice president of Teleglobe Canada, had been a member of the INTELSAT board since 1975. Payne, director of marketing for the Overseas Telecommunications Commission of Australia, had represented Australia on the INTELSAT board at various times since its formation in 1973. The board had also reappointed C. J. Steffen of Switzerland and N. Tuckwell of Australia as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the advisory committee on planning; and O. Schmeller of the FRG and K. Nosaka of Japan as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the advisory committee on technical matters. (INTELSAT Release 78-17-1)
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