May 31 1973
From The Space Library
Results from the Skylab Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) launched on the Skylab 1 Orbital Workshop May 14 were presented by principal investigators at a Johnson Space Center press briefing. Naval Research Laboratory astronomer Dr. Richard Tousey reported the detection by the extreme ultraviolet monitor-a TV system that showed what the sun looked like in extreme uv radiation of a broad band-of a "hole" in the solar corona. "And this coronal hole is believed to be a region where the corona is at a lower temperature and a lower density, and there's some reason to believe that the solar wind comes out of coronal holes to a greater extent than from any where else on the Sun." The first coronal hole had been recorded in 1966 but the significance of such holes had not been recognized until they were observed from NASA's unmanned Orbiting Solar Observatories. A major objective of the Skylab astronomy experiments was to determine how the solar corona was heated. Skylab instruments were observing at a wide range of wavelengths generated by gases of different temperatures at different elevations in the solar atmosphere. Sharper images than so far received were hoped for. The images, thus far seen only through a TV system with about one tenth the anticipated detail, "whet your appetite for what the instruments will bring back," Dr. Tousey said. (Transcript; Sullivan, NYT, 6/1/73, 6)
A London Daily Telegraph editorial commented on the repair of the Skylab 1 Workshop, while the Skylab 2 astronauts proceeded with their tasks in space: "Hundreds of miles above the melee of the Watergate affair, the three American astronauts, having hazardously patched up the damaged Skylab and activated the equipment and workshop, have now settled down to a routine of planned experiments designed, above all, to test man's capacity to live in the weightlessness of space. What-ever the troubles in their political world, there is no question of the Americans' superb capability in scientific and industrial technology." (London Daily Telegraph, 5/31/73)
Receipt of proposals for design, development, test, and evaluation of the space shuttle external tank from McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., Boeing Co., Martin Marietta Aerospace Corp.'s Aerospace Div., and Chrysler Corp.'s Space Div. was announced by Marshall Space Flight Center. The contract, calling for three ground-test tanks and six developmental flight tanks in the development phase, was expected to be awarded by Aug. 1. (MSFC Release 73-60)
A Solar Observing Optical Network (SOON) to survey solar activity and warn of space events disruptive to satellite, radar, and communication operations was being acquired by the Electronic Systems Div. of the Air Force Systems Command, AFSC announced. The Air Force Weather Service would use the system to pinpoint the location and magnitude of solar disturbances. The system when completed would consist of five optical telescopes and a computerized data-processing and communications package. (AFSC Release 075.73)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
