Jul 5 1972
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos 498 from Plesetsk into orbit with 469-km (291.4-mi) apogee, 267-km (165.9-mi) perigee, 91.8-min period, and 70.9° inclination. Satellite reentered Nov. 25. (GsFC SSR, 7/31/72; 11/31/72; SBD, 7/7/72, 30)
Director Glynn S. Lunney of Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) briefed press at Manned Spacecraft Center on plans for joint U.S.: U.S.S.R. mission in 1975 to be finalized at meetings to begin July 6 at MSC. Delegation of 25 Soviet engineers would discuss with NASA "precisely how we are going to do the mission, when we are going to do things and who is going to be doing things." Groups would exchange documents proposing specific details of mission, including launch time, docking schedule, launch sequence, and communications. Spacecraft would be docked about 48 hrs and crews would make several exchange visits. Docking module would be used to transfer crews and as pre-breathing chamber to protect crews from bends while changing from lower-pressured Apollo to higher-pressured Soyuz. Lunney said he expected U.S. crew or pool of crew candidates to be selected "within a year or so." (AP, B Sun, 7/6/72)
France and U.S. had agreed on three-year project FAMOUS (Franco- American Midocean Undersea Study) to explore rift valley 2.4 km (1.5 mi) beneath Atlantic for volcanic activity that was slowly pushing America away from Europe and Africa, New York Times reported. Paper compared project, outgrowth of 1970 Franco- American Agreement on Scientific Cooperation, to Apollo program. Training and employment of international crews had anticipated U.S.-U.S.S.R. space cooperation. Similarities to Apollo were "use of special vehicles [deep-submergence craft] to carry men across otherwise inaccessible terrain, the development of special geologic tools and the training of participants in accessible areas thought to bear some resemblance to the for- bidding target sites." Crews would begin training in August in Gulf of Maine. (Sullivan, NYT, 7/5/72, 12)
Award of two. research contracts to reduce aircraft noise were announced by Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe. General Electric Co. had received $789 000 and Lockheed-Georgia Co., $77 042. Contractors would analyze and experiment with core engine noise control for propulsion systems of future aircraft. (FAA Release 72-131)
Dept. of Commerce announced it had granted $150-million export license to Boeing Co. to cover sale of 10 Boeing 707 jet cargo aircraft to People's Republic of China. (DOT, "Export Licenses Approved," 6/30/72; Witkin, NYT, 7/6/72, 1)
Dr. Reimar Lust had succeeded Dr. Adolf F. J. Butenandt as president of Max Planck Society for Advancement of the Sciences in Bremen, West Germany, New York Times reported. Society, founded as Kaiser Wilhelm Society in 1911, operated 52 institutes and research centers throughout West Germany. They embraced all physical and biological sciences, as well as law, teaching, theory, psychology, and guidance of technical societies. Society's annual budget was nearly $160 million, of which 85% came from West German government and remainder from industry and other private sources. (NYT, 7/5/72, 25)
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