May 30 1974
From The Space Library
30 May-28 June: NASA launched Ats 6 Applications Technology Satellite from Eastern Test Range at 9:00 am EDT on a Titan IIIC launch vehicle. The booster ejected the transtage and spacecraft into an elliptical parking orbit with a 626-km apogee and 152-km perigee. At the second equatorial crossing the first burn of the transtage placed the spacecraft in a transfer orbit. Launch, parking orbit, and transfer orbit were close to the program plan. At 3:29 pm EDT, Ats 6 was injected into geosynchronous orbit with a 35 845.6-km apogee, 35 774.1-km perigee, 23-hr 57-min period, and 1.8° inclination. The near-perfect orbit eliminated need for corrections, leaving nine kilograms of fuel for operational contingencies. The spacecraft separated from the transtage at 3:33 pm EDT.
An orbital correction 7 June changed the 0.27°-per-day westward drift to a 0.05° eastward drift. Checkout of spacecraft systems and on-board experiments was completed 28 June with no significant anomalies. The mission was adjudged a success 26 Sept.
Primary objectives of the mission were to inject the spacecraft into near-geostationary orbit, erect and evaluate a nine-meter antenna to provide a good-quality signal to small inexpensive ground receivers, stabilize the spacecraft using a three-axis control system, and support user-oriented applications experiments. Secondary objectives were to demonstrate new technology in aircraft and maritime traffic control and infrared earth observations; acquire system data for communications applications in space, including spacecraft-to-spacecraft relay; test space-craft control; and measure particles and radiation. The 20 experiments included a health-education telecommunications experiment to broad-cast programs in several languages simultaneously to citizens in remote areas of the country. The satellite also would aid in remote medical telediagnosis and teleconsultation, transmitting patients' medical records to faraway hospital centers for emergency assistance.
One year after launch Ats 6 would be moved over Lake Victoria in Central Africa. India would then use the satellite to broadcast programs teaching agricultural techniques, family planning and hygiene, school courses and teacher education, and occupational skills to 5000 villages. The $600 ground receiving terminals each consisted of a receiver, converter, and three-meter chicken-wire antenna.
Ats 6 was the sixth in a series of ATS satellites developed to advance technology in design, propulsion, and stabilization systems; meteorological concepts; applications; space environmental studies and measurement systems; and communications. Ats 1 (launched 6 Dec. 1966) , Ats 3 (5 Nov. 1967) , and Ats 5 (12 Aug. 1969) were still transmitting useful data. The ATS program was managed by Goddard Space Flight Center under the direction of the Office of Applications. (NASA MORS, 24 May, 3 June, 8 July, 2 Oct. 74; NASA grog off, interview, 5 Feb. 74; NASA Re-lease 74-111)
30 May: The Senate approved the House-Senate Conference report on H.R. 13998 recommending a $3.267-billion FY 1975 NASA authorization. The compromise between the 9 May Senate bill and the 25 April House bill would authorize $805 million for the space shuttle, a $5-million increase over the President's requested funding instead of the $20-million in-crease voted by the House. An $18.8-million increase in space applications, instead of the Senate's $23-million increase, dropped specific designation of $13 million for the ERTS-C spacecraft, but the Conference report recommended that the project be promptly initiated and it retained the Senate's $3-million addition for a Thor-Delta to launch ERTS-C. The Conference bill would decrease manned space flight operations funding by $10 million, instead of the Senate's $5-million cut and the House bill's $15-million cut. It would retain the Senate's $5.1-million addition for aeronautical research and add 4.9 million for energy research, as well as the House-and-Senate-voted $2 million for research in short-term weather phenomena and the House-added $1 million for ground propulsion research. (CR, 30 May 74, S9349-52)
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