Jun 21 1973
From The Space Library
Cosmos 575 was launched by the U.S.S.R. from Plesetsk into orbit with a 267-km (165.9-mi) apogee, 204-km (126.8-mi) perigee, 89.1-min period, and 65.3° inclination. The satellite reentered July 3. (GSFC SSR, 6/30/73; SBD, 6/22/73, 304)
President Nixon and visiting Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev signed, during White House ceremonies, Basic Principles of Negotiations on the Further Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms and an agreement for scientific and technical cooperation in peaceful uses of atomic energy. The arms limitation document specified agreement on continued active negotiations to work out a permanent agreement to be signed in 1974, new agreements to be guided by recognition of each side's equal security interests, application of weapon limitations to quantity as well as quality, subjection of arms limitations to verification by national technical means, modernization and replacement of weapons under conditions to be formulated, formulation of agreements on separate measures to supplement the existing Interim Agreement of May 26, 1972, and to continue measures to prevent accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons. The atomic energy agreement would establish a U.S.-U.S.S.R. Joint Committee on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. At an evening Soviet Embassy dinner honoring President Nixon, General Secretary Brezhnev said: "The cause of developing Soviet-American relations is, indeed, moving forward. In 2 years, Soviet and American astronauts will fly into outer space to carry out the first major joint experiment in man's history. Now they know that from up there in space, our planet looks even more beautiful, though small. It is big enough for us to live in peace, but too small to be subjected to the threat of nuclear war." Brezhnev proposed a toast to President and Mrs. Nixon's health and "to the further success of the great cause which we have succeeded in advancing during our present meeting, to the docking, on earth as well as in outer space, of man's efforts and talents for the good of the peoples, to peace, friendship, and cooperation. . . ." (PD, 6/25/73, 810-21)
West Germany's Aeros Aeronomy Satellite (launched by NASA Dec. 16, 1972) was adjudged a success by NASA. Prelauch objectives-to measure the main aeronomic parameters of the upper atmosphere and the solar ultraviolet radiation in the wavelength band of main absorption-had been satisfied. Four of the five scientific instruments had performed satisfactorily. (NASA prog off)
NASA and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics held a joint press briefing at Johnson Space Center on the commercial benefits from Skylab electronics technology. Robert H. Webster of Ampex Corp. said that the 28-track, high-reliability earth resources experiment package tape recorder developed for the Skylab missions was being tested for use by auto and truck manufacturers. Airlines and heavy equipment manufacturers were using it because of its environmental strength. Thomas H. Kenton, Westinghouse Regional Vice President for the Southwest, said that Westinghouse had manufactured two sensitive, low-light-level TV cameras for Skylab. The cameras could operate at light intensities 500 million times less than typical studio lighting conditions and equal to the light level of a dark moonless night. The cameras could be used for commercial TV camera systems. (Transcript)
A Washington Evening Star and News editorial commented on the Skylab mission as the Skylab 2 astronauts (launched May 25) prepared for their June 22 return to earth: "It is discouraging to some advocates of the space program that the present mission has been observed so casually by the American people, over-shadowed as it has been in the headlines by Watergate, the Brezhnev summit and the price freeze. This comparative lack of attention is one of the costs of America's long string of successes in space. We tend to forget about the courage and skill required of the men we send into orbit and beyond, the ingenuity of their monitors on the ground and the billions we all have invested in the effort. These factors are worth reflecting upon as the country reassesses its future ambitions in space." (W Star & News, 6/21/73, A20)
It was "nigh impossible" for the U.S.S.R. to cancel its Tu-144 supersonic transport program, Dr. Sarah S. White, consultant on Soviet science, said in a New Scientist article. Despite "faint rumblings on the environ-mental side," the "disquietening financial burden," and the prestige set-back of the June 3 crash of the Tu-144, the program would continue. "Because of its crucial military significance, the government in Moscow has always given top priority to its aviation industry. It is not surprising, then, to hear that work on the Tu-144 is progressing only marginally behind schedule-and that designers have already started evaluating a second generation SST capable of flying at speeds said to be considerably greater than Mach 2-3." (New Scientist, 6/21/73, 763-4; Who's Who in Science in Europe)
Rep, Paul G. Rogers (D-Fla.) introduced H.J. Res. 632 to redesignate Cape Kennedy Cape Canaveral. (CR, 6/20/73, H5158)
June 21-23: NASA considered but decided against plans to launch a special spacecraft to intercept and study at close range Comet Kohoutek, discovered in March. Kohoutek, 10 times brighter than any comet on record, would be visible from the earth in late 1973. The NASA Science Advisory Committee on Comets and Asteroids recommended a program "to maximize the scientific return from the unique opportunity" by using new and modified instruments and modified schedules on the Skylab Workshop orbited May 14; other spacecraft already in orbit, such as OAO 3 (Copernicus, launched Aug. 21, 1972) and Oso 7 (launched Sept. 29, 1971) ; and sounding rockets, balloons, aircraft, and ground-based observations. NASA would also use a Radio Astronomy Explorer, an Atmospheric Explorer, and Isis 1 (launched Jan, 30, 1969). The agency had considered launching a scientific payload on a Thor-Delta or Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle to examine a comet from the outer reaches of the solar system at short range for the first time, but decided that time was insufficient to prepare the specialized instrumentation required. (Adv Com minutes; NASA OSS ; Sullivan, NYT, 6/16/73; CSM, 6/18/73; NASA Activities, 9/15/73, 161)
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