Feb 20 1975
From The Space Library
Some "very heavy" influential politicians had been rallying around NASA's "little known and unglamorous" [[Earth Resources Technology Satellite]] [renamed Landsat-14 Jan.] program, inducing President Ford to overrule his budget advisers and provide money for a third spacecraft in 1977, Arlen J. Large said in the Wall Street Journal. It wasn't only NASA but "the ERTS community geographers, foresters, pollution fighters and land-use planners" that lobbied for a third satellite to continue the work of Landsat-1 and 2 (launched 23 July 1972 and 22 Jan. 1975). The Office of Management and Budget had wanted to delay funding until NASA developed cameras with better resolution, but the "lobbying blitz" convinced President Ford to overrule OMB; money for the satellite was included in the FY 1976 budget. (Large, WSJ, 20 Feb 75, 44)
INTELSAT IV F-6 communications satellite was destroyed by a NASA range safety officer 415 sec after launch from Eastern Test Range when the Atlas-Centaur test vehicle tumbled out of control. Lifting off at 6:35 pm EST, the mission had been normal to Atlas booster-engine cutoff at 138 sec. Then telemetry data indicated several malfunctions, including electrical problems and loss of altitude. After destruction, the vehicle impacted in the Atlantic Ocean 800 km downrange from the launch site. An investigation of the failure was begun under the direction of Lewis Research Center and the mission was officially judged unsuccessful 6 March. The failure was the first for an Atlas Centaur since May 1971, when a circuit problem in the Centaur ended the launch of the Mariner 8 Mars probe.
The 1400-kg INTELSAT IV F-6, launched by NASA on a cost-reimbursable basis for the Communications Satellite Corp. on behalf of the 89-member-nation International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium, was intended to be the primary spacecraft over the Indian Ocean region, with INTELSAT IV F-5, launched 13 June 1972, becoming the backup. The failure of INTELSAT IV F-6 would have no immediate effect on INTELSAT global communications; INTELSAT IV F-5 could provide the primary function and INTELSAT III F-3, launched 6 Feb. 1969, was still capable of providing limited backup.
The INTELSAT IV F-6 mission had been scheduled originally for launch in February 1973 but experienced a series of delays from problems in both the satellite and the launch vehicle. (NASA MORs, 26 Feb 75, 13 March 74; PAO, interview, 21 Feb 75; NASA Releases 73-83, 75-7, 75-47; NASA "Note to Editors," 3 May 73, 27 June 75; SBD, 24 Jan 75, 127)
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