May 22 1973
From The Space Library
Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, established the Skylab 1 Investigation Board to determine why the micrometeoroid shield was lost following May 14 launch of the Orbital Workshop and why the solar panels failed to deploy. Dr. Fletcher named Director Bruce T. Lundin of Lewis Research Center Chairman of the Board. Lundin appointed NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science Vincent L. Johnson Vice-chairman. (NASA Notice 1154; NASA Release 73-112)
The pointing direction of Pioneer 11, launched by NASA toward Jupiter April 5, was changed by NASA controllers to aim the spacecraft antenna more precisely toward earth. Ames Research Center engineers fired 26 short pulses from Pioneer 11's thrusters to turn the spacecraft's spin axis four degrees. The change had allowed a shift to Pioneer 11's narrow-beam, high-power antenna and a fourfold increase in the rate of data returned. Pioneer 11 was 32 million km (20 million mi) from the earth and traveling at 127 000 km per hr (79 000 mph). It was scheduled to arrive at Jupiter in December 1974. (NASA Release 73-102)
Dr. Homer E. Newell, NASA Associate Administrator, testified on NASA's role in the U.S. energy research program in joint hearings of the Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications and the Subcommittee on Energy of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics. NASA's energy work was primarily in development of aeronautics and space systems but "these systems and the NASA capabilities, that is, our highly skilled people, our facilities, and the technologies we develop, can be put to work on terrestrial problems of generation, conversion, and conservation of energy." Not only NASA technologies but "the systems engineering, systems analysis, and management experience which we have gained in our conduct of large, complex programs and projects can be brought to bear on terrestrial energy research programs." (Tran-script)
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