Dec 20 1968
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (2MB PDF)
Cosmos CCLXI was launched by U.S.S.R. into orbit with initial apogee of 670 km (416 mi), perigee of 207 km (128.5 mi), 93-min period, and 71° inclination. Satellite carried scientific equipment for studies of upper layers of earth's atmosphere and nature of Northern Lights, with participation of research institutions and observatories of Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, U.S.S.R., and Czechoslovakia. Satellite reentered Feb. 12, 1969. (SF, 5/69, 165; GSFC SSR, 12/31/68; 2/15/69)
NASA announced completion of X-15 flight research program [see Jan. 21]. On final flight Oct. 24-199th in series which began June 8, 1969-NASA test pilot William H. Dana flew rocket-powered aircraft to 255,000-ft altitude. Attempt at 200th flight Dec. 20 was canceled because of adverse weather conditions. In NASA-USAF-USN program initiated in 1954, flights by three X-15 aircraft manufactured by North American Rockwell Corp. had included more than 82 min of flight at speeds exceeding mach 5 and total flight time of more than 30 hr. Peak altitude reached was 354,200 ft (67.04 mi) and top speed was 4,520 mph (mach 6.7)-speeds and altitudes never before attained by any vehicle fully controlled by pilot from launch to landing. It had set two official world altitude records of 246,740 ft and 314,750 ft previously. X-15 flight program provided knowledge applicable to design and development of future spacecraft and commercial supersonic aircraft and data on aerodynamic heating in high-speed flight, which could cause deterioration of aircraft structural integrity. X-15 remained only aircraft capable of studying phenomena at hypersonic speeds, space-equivalent flight, and reentry flight. It also had served as test bed for new components and subsystems, subjecting them to hypersonic flight environment. In 1962 four X-15 pilots received Robert J. Collier Trophy from President Kennedy for "the greatest achievement of aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, safety, or efficiency of air and space vehicles." (NASA Release 68-221; NASA SP-60; NASA EP-9; AP, NYT, 12/21/68, 73; SBD, 12/23/68, 236)
Workmen loading super-cold oxygen into Apollo 8 service module discovered gas had been contaminated, apparently by nitrogen used to flush tanks. Oxygen would be changed and tanks reflushed and launch was expected to take place on schedule (Lannan, W Star, 12/20/68, A5)
Dr. Robert H. Guest, professor of organizational behavior in Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College, was sworn in as consultant by Dr. Thomas O. Paine, Acting NASA Administrator. Dr. Guest would serve on Management Advisory Panel. (NASA Release 68-220)
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