September 1973
From The Space Library
“Earth from space: Photo Supplement”, “Exploring Taurus-Littrow”, “Have We Solved the Mysteries of the Moon?”, “Summing Up Mankind's Greatest Adventure”, “Teammates in Mankind's Greatest Adventure: Painting Supplement” and “What Is It Like to Walk on the Moon?” articles appear in National Geographic Magazine
Soviet plans for a reusable space shuttle had been revealed by Cosmonaut Gherman S. Titov and Soviet Academician Andrey Shikarin, according to a Vienna correspondent quoted by Interavia. The Soviet shuttle would consist of two vehicles coupled pick-a-back, each in delta configuration and designed for hypersonic operating speeds. One would be the booster, the other the orbiter. The spacecraft was designed for horizontal takeoff from a runway. The manned booster would carry the orbiter until it attained a 22-km-per-sec (4900 mph) speed corresponding to a 2- to 3-g acceleration. The stages would separate at about a 30-km (19-mi) altitude and the booster would descend in a controlled glide to land on the runway. The orbiter would accelerate to a more than 100-km (60-mi) altitude, complete its mission, and glide back to the earth. Construction was expected to begin during the 1970s. (Interavia, 9/1973, 945)
The Subcommittee on International Cooperation in Science and Space of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics published Research and Development Collaboration with the U.S.S.R. and Japan. The report summarized discussions with Soviet and Japanese officials during the Subcommittee's July visit to the U.S.S.R.-U.S. Aeronautical Technology Symposium and Display in Moscow and a subsequent visit to Tokyo. The Subcommittee had found that "although military and space parity had been achieved with the United States, the U.S.S.R. is far behind in virtually all consumer products. There are also glaring weaknesses in certain areas of high technology." Soviet leaders had accepted the fact that, "if their plans for the massive expansion and improvement of their commercial air transportation system are to succeed within the proposed time frame, assistance will be required from abroad where superior technology exists. We believe the U.S. aerospace industry is the best, though not the only, source for such high technology products, and evidently the responsible Soviet officials think so, too." As one of the world's most highly developed technological countries, Japan had "much to offer to any cooperative venture in science or space. The Subcommittee urged the National Science Foundation to explore possible collaboration with the Japanese government in its Sunshine Project, a proposed large-scale effort to develop new energy sources. (Com Print)
U.S. scheduled airline passenger traffic had increased 7.3%, to 76 400 million revenue-passenger-miles, during the first half of 1973, Interavia reported. Traffic for local service carriers alone rose 13.2%, to 4600 million revenue-passenger-miles, and for scheduled domestic service, 7.7%, to 60 400 million. Available seat-miles increased 7.5%, to 120 200 million. Noting the financial and economic improvement of the local service carriers, the Civil Aeronautics Board had instituted an investigation of their class subsidy rate and planned a minor reduction in the subsidy. (Interavia, 9/73, 919)
Tracking of earth-orbiting satellites by the long-range perimeter acquisition radar (PAR) of the Safeguard Ballistic Missile Defense facility at Grand Forks, N.D., had been achieved ahead of schedule, Armed Forces Journal reported. PAR construction had begun in 1970; power testing, in June. The site was scheduled to be handed over to the Armed Air Defense Command in October 1974 and to become operational in early 1975. (AFJ, 9/73, 24)
The "much vaunted European challenge" to U.S. aerospace industry would "remain a myth," an Interavia editorial said. Recent agreements for U.S. companies to provide European manufacturers access to their high technology might seem against U.S. interests, but "such agreements are in fact usually followed by orders for U.S.-designed aircraft." It was "not simply that the currency crisis has made the US product much cheaper than the competitive European design, but also that the Americans are in a position to contract out production work on a proven sales success." European commercial aircraft industry products would "never achieve the success expected of them." Europe's total share of the Western market for commercial aircraft-just over 9%-was "steadily drop-ping as the early model BAC 111s and Caravelles are withdrawn from service and there are no advanced versions to replace them." However tempting technologically the advanced commercial aircraft offered by European industry might be, "they are not what many airlines want in the present economic climate." There "seems little or no inclination in Europe to accept inter-dependence in high technology areas. There is apparently more of a readiness to cooperate across the Atlantic than across the European frontiers. If the European aerospace industry wishes to remain a viable, independent force on the world scene, then the time has surely come when something more than lip service must be paid to the European ideal." (Interavia, 9/73, 939)
The Hawker Siddeley 146, the first major new British aircraft launched in a decade, was to be developed under a program funded jointly by Hawker Siddeley and the United Kingdom government, Armed Forces Journal reported. The four-engine aircraft would carry 70 to 100 passengers for 1900 km (1200 mi). (AFJ, 9/73, 24)
U.S.S.R.'s Aeroflot had transported 82.5 million passengers and 21 000 million kg (46 300 million lbs) of freight and mail, and its crop-spraying aircraft had treated 833 389 sq km (321 773 sq mi) of land in 1972, Interavia reported. Forecasts for 1973 included the transportation of 87 million passengers and 2100 million kg (46 300 million lbs) of mail and freight and the treatment of 869 800 sq km (335 830 sq mi) of land. The Aeroflot network continued to be extended and the number of scheduled services had risen from 2974 in 1972 to 3068 in 1973. Moscow alone was linked with 200 cities in the U.S.S.R. (Interavia, 9/73, 919)
The National Science Foundation released Federal Scientific, Technical, and Health Personnel, 1971 (NSF 73-309). In 1971, as in most years since 1966, Federal scientific, technical, and health professional personnel increased little compared with the early 1960s. The Dept. of Defense remained, as in prior years, the largest employer of scientific and technical personnel. About 29% of Federal scientists and engineers performed research and development. The greatest concentration of R&D personnel was at NASA. More than one half of NASA's scientists and engineers performed R&D activities. Salaries of Federal scientists and engineers increased between 1966 and 1971, largely to meet statutory requirements that they be comparable with non-Federal salaries. Women, accounting for 4% of all Federal scientists and engineers, appeared to be advancing in grade faster than men. (Text)
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