Jul 2 1974
From The Space Library
Ats 6 Applications Technology Satellite, launched 30 May, transmitted the first instructional TV course broadcast directly by satellite. The course, on career education for elementary school children, originated at the Univ. of Kentucky and traveled by land wires to NASA's Rosman, N.C., antenna for transmittal to the satellite. The spacecraft re-broadcast the program to more than 300 graduate education students throughout eight Appalachian states. Signals came through strongly in all the receiving areas. Students would receive university credit for successful completion of the course, which included taped lessons, programmed instruction, laboratory sessions, and live seminars. Seminars would use Ats 3, launched 5 Nov. 1967. The course was part of the Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare's Health Education Telecommunications (HET) experiment to determine the effectiveness of satellite. transmitted educational TV. (NASA Release 74-172; McElheny, NYT, 3 July 74, 37)
A Mariner 10 trajectory correction maneuver was made to ensure that the spacecraft would pass within 48 300 km of Mercury for its second encounter 21 Sept. The spacecraft would pass at a greater distance from the planet than it had during the 29 March encounter, to photo-map the entire sunlit side of the planet as well as the south polar area. (NASA MOR, 3 Oct 74; Pasadena Star-News, 3 July 74)
ERTS 1 Earth Resources Technology Satellite, launched 23 July 1972, stopped transmitting useful stored global data, following continued degradation of its tape recorder. After two years of operation, ERTS 1 was providing only real-time imagery, making world-wide coverage no longer possible. Good continuous U.S. coverage was being maintained by ground stations in Canada, Alaska, California, Maryland, and Brazil. The satellite had been designed for one-year operational lifetime. (GSFC proj off, interview, 30 July 75; Av Wk, 19 Aug 74, 17; NASA Release 73-62; NASA, ERTS-A Fact Sheet, 12 July 72)
During the third quarter of the Federal energy conservation program, energy savings in the nondefense agencies had been 19% of anticipated energy use, and savings by the Dept. of Defense had been 31%, President Nixon said in a statement following receipt of a report from Federal Energy Administrator John C. Sawhill. Total savings for the first nine months of the Federal program had equaled 75 million barrels of oil, or $600 million in reduced costs. Secretary of Commerce Frederick B. Dent had reported that industrial energy consumption had been reduced by 5% per unit of output October 1973-January 1974. This rate, which was expected to be maintained or exceeded in 1974 by all of commerce and industry, would bring annual savings equal to 425 million barrels of oil. (PD, 8 July 74, 788)
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