Mar 7 1963

From The Space Library

NASA Director of Space Sciences, Dr. Homer E. Newel, testifying before Space Sciences subcommittee of House Commit­tee on Science and Astronautics, described one laboratory-tested theory picturing the lunar surface as made of finely powdered sand forming "fairy castles" full of caverns and empty spaces, unable to support a weight. Dr. Newell said an equally plausible theory directly opposed this theory. ". . . This means we have to go there and find out." (AP, Wash. Post, 3/8/63)

OSO I solar observatory satellite completed its first year in orbit, ex­ceeding its estimated operating life by six months. Eleven of its 13 scientific experiments were still operating, having provided more data on behavior and composition of the sun than any single ground-based observatory and all previous rocket, balloon, and satellite flights combined. Preliminary results from OSO I would be presented at a symposium March 14. (Goddard Release)

NASA Administrator James E. Webb, in address at Topeka, Kansas, traced the historic role of the Federal Government in animating science and pointed to the quickening pace of science and technology today. Major considerations, which "make it clear that an understanding of the space environment, and the development of the technology which will enable us to operate in space, are imperative," Webb Said. "First, the modern rocket engine, which can operate in the vacuum of space ... has given us and other nations for the first time the means to explore and utilize the space medium. Given this ability, and the spectacular achievements already made, Americans and citizens of other nations assuredly will not remain confined to this small planet. We and they will explore space, and will learn to use it. Knowing this, we can settle for nothing less than a position at the forefront of that pioneering effort. "Second, it is generally recognized, I believe, that our national security itself is heavily involved in the space competition. Not only our prestige but our capacity for constructive international leadership depend upon a superiority in science and technology ­for economic development of national defense-that is understood and accepted. The nations of the world, seeking a basis for their own future progress and security, continuously pass judgment upon our ability as a nation to make decisions, to concentrate ef­fort, to manage vast. and complex technological programs in our own interest. It is not too much to say that in many ways the viability of representative government and of the free enterprise system, in a period of revolutionary changes based on science and technology, is being tested in space. "Third, our national defense-perhaps even our national sur­vival-demand that we act to insure that no hostile force will be permitted to use space as an unchallenged avenue of aggression against us. "The fourth and most important of the major reasons for un­dertaking a broad national program of space research and development-the one which promises the greatest rewards for man­kind-the technological applications which will flow from it, will offer vast returns on our space investment here on earth over many years ahead." (Text)

NASA Administrator James E. Webb addressed Kansas State Univ. in Manhattan, and said: "It might surprise you if I were to suggest that, in an important sense, Kansas had a part in the beginnings of the scientific age in America, almost 160 years ago. It was in 1804 that Lewis and Clark camped for three days at the junction of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers while en route to the Pacific Northwest on the United States' first impor­tant scientific exploration. "Although the Congress authorized the investment of only $2,500 in that expedition, it established the precedent for a growing federal participation over the next 150 years in scientific re­search and exploration . . "And what of today? In Fiscal Year 1964, Congress is consider­ing the investment of almost $15 billion for scientific research and development and the tools and facilities with which to do it. More than $5 billion 700 million is being requested for the civilian space program alone-an activity so vast and so demanding of re­sources that it is something which only an entire nation could un­dertake . . . (Text)

At Senate Small Business Committee hearings on NASA proposed patent policies, Univ. of Illinois economist Horace M. Gray charged NASA was fostering monopoly in the aerospace industry and called public safeguards in the proposed policies "mere propaganda designed to obfuscate the issue and conceal the real intent, which is to give away the public domain to private monop­olists." (Wash. Post, 3/8/63)

Discovery of radiation belt around planet Saturn, first reported in Physical Review Letters, was described by two physicists of the NRL research team, Joseph M. Bologna and Russell M. Sloanak­er. From 170 radioastronomy measurements of Saturn's radia­tion made between July and October 1962, the researchers dis­covered that, radiation from the planet was too intense to be heat, emission, and "the only theoretical explanation is radiation from electrons spiraling in a magnetic field." Their research indicated Saturn's radiation belt circles the planet from north to south, theoretically not so likely as equatorial belts such as those of Earth and Jupiter, but Sloanaker said further studies were planned with 300-ft. radiotelescope at Green Bank, W. Va., to clarify uncertainties. (Wash. Eve. Star, 3/8/63)

NASA-USAF Gemini Program Planning Board held its second meeting. (M&R, 3/18/63,14)

Mrs. Sara Bartholomae disclosed plans for $1 million Mercury Space Capsule Chapel near Los Angeles in tribute to Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr. (UPI, Wash. Post, 3/8/63)

Mar 8 1963