Jan 16 1973
From The Space Library
Appointment of Capt. Chester M. Lee (USN, Ret.) as Program Director of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project was announced by NASA. Lee, Apollo Mission Director for Apollo 12 through 17, would be responsible for direction of the U.S. ASTP effort, including management of the spacecraft and clocking module, flight and crew operations at Manned Spacecraft Center, launch vehicle operations at Marshall Space Flight Center, and launch operations at Kennedy Space Center. (NASA Release 73-5)
Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, presented an award of $10 000 to Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists Paul M. Muller and William L. Sjogren in a JPL ceremony. The award was for a 1968 discovery of mascons (mass concentrations of dense material beneath the lunar surface) and for imaginative interpretation of the discovery's results and implications significant to the success of the Apollo program and future studies of the earth and other planets. The mascon discovery had received international recognition. Muller and Sjogren had been awarded the 1971 Magellanic Gold Medal of American Philosophical Society and had been elected members of the Society of Sigma Xi and Fellows of Britain's Royal Astronomical Society. (NASA Release 73-6; NASA PAO)
NASA launched three sounding rockets, two from Wallops Island and one from Andoeya, Norway. A Nike-Apache launched from Wallops carried a Univ. of Illinois payload to a 157-km (97.5-mi) altitude. The launch was the second of three to measure ionospheric properties on three kinds of anomalous days: (1) "L," a day with very low electron densities in the 70- to 80-km (40- to 50-mi) region and a 10-day minimal storm activity preceding; (2) "Hl," a day with very high electron densities and the same altitude and magnetic storm prerequisites; and (3) "H2," a day with very high electron densities in the same region with two or three days of major magnetic disturbance and magnetic storm aftereffects. The Nike-Apache was launched on an Hl day and measured electron densities, temperatures, and collision frequencies. The rocket underperformed but the scientific objectives were satisfied. The first launch in the series had been Dec. 5, 1972.
A Super Arcas, launched from Wallops Island 34 min after the Nike-Apache, carried a Pennsylvania State Univ. payload to a 95.1-km (59.1-mi) altitude to collect data on positive and negative ion conductivities. The rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily.
A Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket was launched from Andoeya, Norway, carrying a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experiment to a 280.0-km (174-mi) altitude to collect data on energetic fields and particles and to study the aurora. The rocket and instrumentation performed satisfactorily. (NASA Rpts SRL; GSFC proj off)
Small business firms had received $12 436 000 in Kennedy Space Center procurement awards during FY 1972, KSC announced, an increase over 88 433 000 in the previous year. Overall procurement for KSc amounted to $192 882 000 in FY 1972 and $211996 000 in FY 1971. (KSC Release 10-73, 1/16/73)
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