Jul 22 1973
From The Space Library
The U.S.S.R. launched its Mars 4 probe from Baykonur Cosmo-drome at 12:31 am local time (3:31 pm EDT, July 21) into a parking orbit from which it was inserted into a 470-million-km (290-million-mi) trajectory toward Mars. All systems performed satisfactorily, Tass re-ported. The spacecraft would reach Mars in February 1974 to continue scientific exploration of the planet and the space near it begun by Mars 2 (launched May 19, 1971) and Mars 3 (launched May 28, 1971). United Press International reported Western sources as saying the ap-parent aim of Mars 4 was to softland research instruments and TV cameras on the Martian surface. Mars 4 would be the fourth Soviet spacecraft to reach Mars. Mars 1 (launched Nov. 1, 1962, to fly by Mars) had transmitted data to the earth for more than four months during its journey, before communications went dead. Mars 2 had been put into orbit around the planet and transmitted data to the earth into August 1972. An instrumented capsule from the spacecraft crashlanded on the Martian surface Nov. 27, 1971, becoming the first man-made object to reach the surface. Mars 3 had also attempted to softland an instrumented capsule, during a dust storm. TV pictures were transmitted to the earth for 20 sec before transmission ceased abruptly. The spacecraft ended its mission in August 1972. (GSFC SSR, 7/31/73; FBIS-Sov, 7/23/73, Li; UPI, NYT, 7/23/73, 8; A&A 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory was fashioning three large photomosiac spheres of Mars from thousands of photos taken by Mariner 9 (launched by NASA May 30, 1971, to become the first spacecraft to orbit another planet Nov. 13, 1971). Two 1.2-m (4-ft) globes would be completed, one for NASA Hq. and one for Lewis Research Center. A 1.8-m (6-ft) globe would be exhibited in JPL's museum. (JPL PIo; Miles, LA Times, 7/22/73)
The U.S. airline industry would have to spend an estimated $1 billion to $3 billion over four to five years for modifications necessary to meet new Environmental Protection Agency requirements of lowered aircraft noise and emission levels, aviation consultant Selig Altschul said in a New York Times article. (NYT, 7/22/73, 6:3)
Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Sweden protested France's July 21 detonation of a nuclear device over Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific. (AP, NYT, 7/23/73, 1)
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