Sep 14 1973
From The Space Library
Cosmos 586 was launched by the U.S.S.R. from Plesetsk into an orbit with a 1007-km (625.7-mi) apogee, 969-km (602.1-mi) perigee, 104.8-min period, and 82.9° inclination. (GSFC SSR, 9/30/73; SBD, 9/17/73, 65)
Climatic changes on Mars indicated by Mariner 9 (launched by NASA May 30, 1971) were described in Science by Cornell Univ. astronomer Dr. Carl E. Sagan and team: "The equatorial sinuous channels on Mars detected by Mariner 9 point to a past epoch of higher pressures and abundant liquid water. Advective instability of the martian atmosphere permits two stable climates-one close to present conditions, the other at a pressure of the order of 1 bar [100 kilonewtons per sq mi] de-pending on the quantity of buried volatiles. Variations in the obliquity of Mars, the luminosity of the sun, and the albedo of the polar caps each appear capable of driving the instability between a current ice age and more clement conditions. Obliquity driving alone implies that epochs of much higher and of much lower pressure must have characterized martian history. Climatic change on Mars may have important meteorological, geological, and biological implications.' (Science, 9/14/73, 1045-8)
The mechanical and structural qualifications program for the ATS-F Applications Technology Satellite (scheduled for April 1974 launch) was completed at Johnson Space Center with a successful deployment test of the parabolic reflector. The reflector on the thermal-structure-model spacecraft had been deployed under simulated space conditions of vacuum and zero g. (Goddard News, 10/73, 5)
Kennedy Space Center announced the award of two study contracts. Florida Institute of Technology would study hypergolic propellant liquid- and vapor-disposal methods for use in space shuttle operations under a $75 000 contract. The Univ. of Florida would receive $25 420 to study the application of remote-sensing devices for temperature evaluation to assist Florida fruit and vegetable growers. (KSC Releases 209-73, 210-73)
A $110-million "fail safe" satellite system to monitor the 1290-km (800-mi) Alaskan oil pipeline was being planned by RCA Alaska Communications, Inc., United Press International quoted RCA Corp. Board Chairman Robert M. Sarnoff as saying in Anchorage, Alaska. (NYT, 9/15/ 73, 11)
Univ. of Texas physicists A. A. Jackson IV and Michael P. Ryan, Jr., proposed in a Nature article that the event that leveled forests in a wide region of Siberia on June 30, 1908, was the passage of a black hole that had plunged completely through the earth. They suggested that ships' logs for that date be examined for evidence of an unusual occurrence. The object that fell on Siberia had been referred to as the Tunguska meteorite, although it had left no crater or other clearly identifiable meteorite residue. "We suggest that a black hole of substellar mass . . . could explain many of the mysteries associated with the event." (Nature, 9/14/73, 88-89)
September 14-23: The first major international aerospace show in Latin America was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. More than 250 firms from 11 nations displayed products from satellite equipment to metal forgings, aircraft, helicopters, and small components. Aircraft exhibited included the British Hawker Siddeley Harrier VSTOL [vertical or short takeoff and landing] fighter, Fokker F-28 twin-jet transport, Israel Aircraft Industries' Arava cargo transport, Aeronautica Macchi MB-326 jet trainer-fighter, Aerospatiale A-300B Airbus, Canadair CL-215 amphibian, Northrop F-5E light jet fighter aircraft, and Lockheed C-5A heavy logistic transport. Of the nations invited to participate by the sponsoring Brazilian Ministry of Aeronautics, only Japan and the U.S.S.R. had declined. (Av Wk, 9/17/73, 22; Interavia, 9/73, 954)
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