Nov 15 1971
From The Space Library
NASA's M2-F3 lifting body, piloted by NASA test pilot William H. Dana, successfully completed its 11th flight from FRC. Objectives were to check out fuel jettison system and newly installed engine chamber purge system. (NASA Proj Off)
Intersputnik, international space communications organization, was formed under agreement signed in Moscow by U.S.S.R., Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Cuba, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. Tass later quoted agreement as saying "organization is open for accession by all states of the world. It will coordinate its activities with the International Telecommunications Union as well as with other organizations whose activities are related to the use of communication satellites." (UPI, NYT, 11/17/71, 9)
Full deployment of Satellite Early Warning System (SEWS), "possibly in 1972," would alert U.S. to attack from any point on globe in seconds -"time to get strategic bombers into the air and to launch a missile counterstrike before enemy warheads arrive on U.S. targets"-U.S. News & World Report article said. DOD was "fairly confident" that Pearl Harbor type of attack was "becoming almost impossible." Two SEWS satellites, launched May 5, were reported in near-stationary orbit about 40 000 km (25 000 mi) above Indian Ocean. They could monitor Soviet and Communist Chinese missile launches and detect and report nuclear explosions in atmosphere. (US News, 11/15/71, 10)
President Nixon submitted to Senate nomination of Dr. H. Guyford Stever as NSF Director. Dr. Stever would succeed Dr. William D. McElroy, whose resignation would be effective Feb. 1. Dr. Stever was member of National Science Board and of Advisory Panel to House of Representatives on Science and Astronautics. He had served as USAF Chief Scientist and as Chairman of President Nixon's Pre- Inauguration Task Force on Science and Technology. (PD, 11/22/71, 1528, 1542)
MSC issued RFPS to develop and test polymer seal materials for space shuttle propulsion systems. Proposals, for fixed-price R&D contract, were due Dec. 3, with work to be concluded 12 mos after contract award. (MSC Release 71-82)
House passed and sent to Senate H.R. 11487, bill to permit sale of land at KSC for Chapel of the Astronauts. (CR, 11/15/71, H10998, D1171)
FAA announced award of $1.59362 contract to Northwest Environmental Technology Laboratories, Inc., to measure and evaluate effectiveness of airborne commercial seeding techniques in dissipating fog at air-ports. (FAA Release 71-185)
RAND Corp. President Henry S. Rowen resigned. New York Times later quoted sources as saying his departure had been caused partly by DOD's "dissatisfaction with Rand's role in the release of the Pentagon papers [report on background of U.S. involvement in Vietnam War prepared at request of then Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and classified by DOD]," Both Rowen and RAND Board Chairman Newton N. Minow had denied relationship between Rowen retirement and Pentagon papers. (Roberts, NYT, 11/16/71, 22)
Hanna Reitsch, described by Washington Evening Star as "Nazi Germany's famous daredevil woman test pilot and the only woman in German history ever to be given two Iron Crosses for her exploits," told of her glider research during Star interview. "I am searching for the right currents over the Alps. I don't have to worry about .. . borders in the air. . . . As we enter space work more, we will realize how small mankind is and how necessary it is to come together in peace." (Dean, W Star, 11/16/71, B7)
November 15-29: Explorer 45 (SSS-A) Small Scientific Satellite was successfully launched for NASA by Italian crew at 8:52 am local time (12:52 am EST) from San Marco launch platform off coast of Kenya. Four-stage Scout launch vehicle boosted 50-kg (110-lb) satellite into orbit with 27 034.5-km (16 798.5-mi) apogee, 220.8- km (137.2-mi ) perigee, 469-min period, and 3.57° inclination. Primary objective was to measure characteristics and formation of earth's ring current and development of main-phase magnetic storms; relation between magnetic storms, aurora, and acceleration of particles within inner magnetosphere; and relative importance of various diffusion mechanisms in populating radiation zones at 4- to 5-earth-radii elliptical equatorial orbit. By Nov. 29 all satellite household functions were nominal but spacecraft was coning at higher angle than planned, which would make data reduction slightly more difficult. Attempts were being made to reduce coning angle. Five experiments had been turned on and were operating satisfactorily. One experiment, charged particle detector, remained to be turned on. Explorer 45, 26-sided polyhedral spacecraft 63.5 cm (25 in) in diameter, attained length of 5.8 m (19 ft) with booms deployed. It was second U.S. satellite to be launched by Italy under April 30, 1969, launch agreement. First was Uhuru (Explorer 42) Small Astronomy Satellite launched from San Marco Dec. 12, 1970. Explorer 45 was most innovative and compact satellite in Explorer series to date; on-board data handling system could be reprogrammed by ground command to concentrate on specific sets of data. Under NASA and Univ. of Rome agreement, NASA provided booster and satellite; Italian team conducted assembly, checkout, and launch services on cost-reimbursable basis. NASA OSSA was responsible for overall direction of program. Satellite was designed and built at GSFC, which managed project. LaRC managed Scout launch vehicle. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 71-212)
November 15-17: AIAA 2nd Symposium on Uranium Plasmas: Research and Applications was held in Atlanta, Ga. Symposium Chairman Robert G. Ragsdale, head of Advanced Reactor Concepts Section of LeRC Nuclear System Div., described cumulative impact of papers delivered in Astronautics and Aeronautics: "Significant progress in a number of research areas has been achieved along the road to determining the feasibility of gas- core reactors ... [which] harness and control the energy released from a hydrodynamically contained fissioning uranium plasma. The major application studied to date is a gaseous-fueled rocket reactor. Other possible applications, such as nuclear-MHD power generators and breeder reactors, are also beginning to receive some attention." Developments detailed at symposium argued "the possibility of an engine with a 5000-sec specific impulse and . relatively high thrust- to-weight ratio." Gas-core reactors "could possibly send astronauts to Mars and return them safely to Earth in a total round-trip time of 60 days." (A&A, 11/71, 6)
November 15-19: Huntsville Assn. of Technical Societies (HATS) held international Congress on Space for Mankind's Benefit in Huntsville, Ala. Purpose of meeting was to communicate to nonaerospace public, in nontechnical language, practical benefits and dividends of U.S. space program. Dr. Wernher von Braun, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Planning, in keynote address said tools and techniques originating from space exploration had arrived just in time to aid ecologists in saving planet earth. "Many benefits are now being realized, but we can expect far greater returns as increasingly sophisticated devices go into service." (Program; Birmingham Post-Herald, 11/17/71)
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