Jun 14 1973
From The Space Library
Tentative selection of 22 scientists-including one each from France and Germany-from among 72 scientists who responded to NASA's August 1972 invitation to provide experiments for one of two Pioneer spacecraft to probe Venus in 1978 was announced by NASA. Mission objectives were to gather information on the Venusian atmosphere and clouds. Participating scientists would define experiments studying composition and structure of the atmosphere down to the surface, the nature and composition of the clouds, the circulation pattern of the atmosphere, and the radiation field in the lower atmosphere. The mission-comprising a bus, a large probe, and three small probes would use a spin-stabilized, solar-powered spacecraft. The trip from earth to Venus would take 125 days. The probes would be separated from the bus 10 to 20 days before entry into the Venusian atmosphere. The large probe would descend through the atmosphere in 11/2 hrs; the small probes would fall free to the planet's surface about 75 min after entry. The bus would be targeted to enter the Venus atmosphere at a shallow angle and transmit data until it was destroyed by atmospheric-friction heat. The atmosphere probe was scheduled for launch in May 1978, about three months before a Venus orbiter was to be launched. Both spacecraft would arrive in the vicinity of Venus in December 1978. By comparing the atmospheres of Venus, Mars, and the earth, scientists hoped to construct an efficient model of the earth's atmosphere to predict long-term climate changes and short-term effects of environmental pollution. Experiments for the orbiter mission would be selected in early 1974. (NASA Release 73-115)
Soviet tests and investigations had shown that "supersonic civilian aircraft have a good future," Deputy Chairman Leonid Smirnov of the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers, heading the Soviet commission investigating the June 3 crash of the Tu-144 [see May 24-June 3], said in a Paris TV interview. The Soviet airline Aeroflot was "preparing to use the supersonic Tu-144." Gen. Aleksey A. Tupolev, chief designer of the Tu-144, was quoted by Associated Press as saying in Paris that development of the aircraft would continue but would be delayed. It had been scheduled for service in late 1974. (FBIS-Sov, 6/15/73, Fl; NYT, 6/15/73, 2)
Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, discussed plans for the June 18-23 summit meeting to be held by President Nixon and Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev in Washington, D.C., and San Clemente, Calif., at a Washington, D.C., press briefing. Asked why Brezhnev would not be visiting Johnson Space Center as had been reported [see June 7], Dr. Kissinger said, "There were various ideas for various possible stops, but given the fact that a maximum amount of time was always intended to be devoted to discussion .. . it simply proved impossible." (PD, 6/18/73, 771-8)
Western Union Telegraph Co. announced it had received authorization from the Federal Communications Commission to construct four more earth stations for the terrestrial segment of its WESTAR domestic communications satellite system. It would build on sites near Atlanta, Ga.; Chicago, Ill.; Dallas, Tex.; and Los Angeles, Calif. The first WESTAR earth station was under construction at Vernon Township, N.J. (Western Union Release, 6/14/73)
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